UNIVERSITY  OF  CA  RIVERSIDE.  LIBRARY 


3  1210  01850  1526 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

RIVERSIDE 


E^DUCATIOI^ 

IN    ITS    RELATION    TO    MANUAL 
INDUSTRY. 


ARTHUR  MacARTHUR. 


NEW   YORK: 
D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY, 

1,  3,  AND  5  BOND  STREET. 
1886. 


/it5 


COPTEIOHT,   1884, 

By  D.  APPLETON   AND  COMPANY. 


PEEFAOE. 


It  is  believed  that  a  system  of  rudimental  science 
and  manual  art  can  be  adapted  to  tlie  usual  methods  of 
instruction ;  and  although  the  teaching  of  particular  trades 
is  neither  desirable  nor  practical  in  school-life,  yet  the 
time  has  now  arrived  when  education  should  give  the 
children  practical  knowledge  in  those  general  principles 
which  relate  to  the  trades  and  arts  that  are  destined  to 
become  the  business  of  their  subsequent  life. 

Had  this  book  been  written  for  those  only  who  have 
specially  studied  the  question,  I  should  feel  it  necessary 
to  apologize  for  so  many  details  concerning  industrial 
schools  in  Europe  and  the  United  States ;  but  my  object 
is  to  instruct  the  general  reader,  and  elicit  his  interest 
by  the  results  of  experience.  The  mind  is  delighted 
with  a  logical  demonstration,  because  it  is  so  conclusive ; 
but  a  successful  example  is  of  much  more  value  than 
the  most  conSdent  affirmations  or  deductions.  This  is 
the  excuse,  if  one  were  necessary,  for  giving  a  pretty 
full  account  of  these  successful  experiments  in  industrial 
training. 


iv  PREFACE. 

What  is  industrial  education?  What  are  its  merits 
and  objects,  and,  above  all,  what  power  does  it  possess 
of  ministering  to  some  useful  purpose  in  the  practical 
arts  of  life  ?  Whether  I  have  answered  these  questions 
with  a  reasonable  degree  of  exactness  and  precision,  can 
only  be  determined  by  a  perusal  of  the  volume. 


OOS-TEl^TS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

PAQK 

Industrial  education  neglected — The  lessons  of  things — The  education 
of  children  befoi'e  the  period  of  school — The  understanding  and  the 
senses — The  education  of  thought  and  language — Mission  of  the 
senses  and  physical  organs — The  eyes  and  the-  fingers  translate 
the  works  of  the  spirit — Sensible  objects  sources  of  information — 
Cultivating  half  the  faculties — Simple  ideas  powerless  unless  em- 
bodied in  some  form — The  hand — Montaigne  on  the  hand — Outis 
on  the  void  in  education — The  senses 1 


CHAPTER  ir. 

Industrial  history  in  France — Her  skilled  labor  and  prosperity — Art- 
schools  and  the  excellence  of  her  fabrics — British  trade — Its  effect 
on  Europe  —  Schools  on  the  Continent  —  The  £cole  municipal 
(V Apprentis  in  Paris — School  at  Besan^on — School  of  the  Chris- 
tian Brothers — The  J^cole  professionnelle  of  MM.  Chaix  et  Cie. — 
School  at  Creuzot — Count  Hasrach — Weaving-school  at  Mulhouse 
and  Epinal — Industrial  education  at  Limoges  —  The  Ecole  des 
Arts  et  Metiers  —  Government  aid  to  art-education  in  France — 
State  aid  discussed — Belgium,  Germany,  Bavaria,  WUrtemberg, 
Nuremberg — The  French  commission — Schools  in  other  countries 
of  Europe 10 


CHAPTER   III. 

Industrial  education  in  Russia — The  Practical  Technological  Institute 
at  St.  Petersburg — The  Imperial  Technical  School  at  Moscow — 


vi  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Exhibits  of,  at  the  Exposition  of  1876  and  1878 — Moscow  fitly 
chosen — Two  other  schools  for  teaching  trades  to  boys — Move- 
ment in  England — Continental  artisans — British  artisans  at  Paris 
Exposition,  1867 — Schools  of  art-instruction — South  Kensington 
Museum — Walter  Smith  — French  and  English  methods  compared 
— Spread  of  art-schools  in  the  United  Kingdom — Their  effect  upon 
industries  requiring  art — Comparison  of  art-products — The  lead- 
ing nation  in  the  industries  depending  upon  art — Advantages 
stated — The  favorable  effect  upon  the  artisan — Favorable  to  mo- 
rality— The  problem  abroad 29 


Cn AFTER   IV. 

The  United  States — Dependent  upon  Europe — Want  of  trained  skill 
— Our  cotton  and  woolen  fabrics  superior — Pottery  and  other 
articles  from  abroad — The  material  produced  in  the  United  States 
purchased  back — Russia  and  other  countries — Art  pervades  all 
things — Political  economy — Its  maxims — American  taste  for  luxu- 
ry— Cheap  lands  scarcer — Industrial  classes  must  rely  upon  trades 
— Effect  of  making  what  we  need — Adam  Smith  on  home-trade 
— We  should  acquire  skill — Raise  wages — Raw  material  in  the 
United  States — Causes  of  national  prosperity — Our  natural  re- 
sources— Practical  education — Linen,  hemp,  wool — Other  articles 
— Effect  of  training  industrial  classes — The  value  put  on  material 
by  art — Its  general  effect — New  England — Massachusetts — Arts 
and  manufactures  of — Education  in — The  Worcester  Free  Insti- 
tute— The  Illinois  Industrial  University 45 


CHAPTER  V. 

Technical  schools  in  the  United  States — Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology — Manual  School,  Washington  University — Stevens  In- 
stitute of  Technology — The  usefulness  of  these  in  this  country — 
Scheme  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  and  course 
of  study — General  .Walker  on  science-schools — The  School  of 
Mechanics  therein,  and  its  course  of  instruction — Mr.  Foley's  re- 
port— Russian  plan  of  manual  teaching — The  use  of  hand-tools 
still   neces.sary — The  Slanual  School  in  Washington   University, 


CONTENTS.  vii 

PACE 

St.  Louis — Its  plan  of  teaching  shop-work — Pennsylvania  Museum 
and  School  of  Industrial  Art — Other  technical  schools  in  Phila- 
delphia— Science  schools  attached  to  universities — Agriculture  and 
mechanical  colleges  under  land  grants — Some  statistics  concerning 
them — In  order  to  be  useful,  they  must  teach  by  practice — The 
Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  a  good  example — Institu- 
tions for  the  superior  education  of  women — The  number  of  such 
schools  in  the  United  States — Every  facility  should  be  afforded 
for  their  education — Brief  discussion  on  this  subject — Their  em- 
ployment as  farmers,  decorators,  and  architects — The  numerous 
trades  open  to  women — Emily  Faithful's  views — Industrial  edu- 
cation of  women — Equality  of  Education — Co-education — Should 
women  pursue  the  old  system  of  college  studies? — This  is  a 
utilitarian  era — Victor  Cousin  on  the  fine  arts — Auguste  Comte 
on  science — Other  thinkers — The  Greeks  can  be  studied  without 
studying  Greek — Should  girls  pursue  the  same  studies  as  the  boys, 
in  matters  of  superior  education  ? — Advantages  of  industrial  edu- 
cation to  women 62 


CHAPTER   VI. 

Education  for  hand  and  eye — Method  of  instruction  at  Athens — Public 
schools — Improved  methods — Main  facts  in  regard  to  public 
schools — Optimistic  views  of  the  same — Other  lessons  than  those 
of  the  school-room — Statement  of  the  same — Our  obligations  to 
the  public  schools — Want  of  practical  education — Manual  training 
a  necessary  part  of— Foreign  designers  and  workmen — Jewelers' 
Association — Speech  at  banquet  of — Necessity  of  art-education  to 
American  artisan — Mechanic  arts  passing  out  of  our  hands — Rush 
for  clerical  employment — An  illustration  of  their  dependence — 
Decorative  art — Science  applied  to  necessities — Telegraphy,  pho- 
tography, aniline — Artistic  employments,  their  effect — Education 
enhanced  by  manual  exercise — Eclectic  education — The  highest 
aim — Intellectual  culture  not  alone  education — Our  physical  con- 
stitution— Description  of — Association  of,  in  elevating  the  mind — 
In  expressing  its  ideas  in  tangible  forms — Their  intimate  co-opera- 
tion— Equality  of  education,  the  true  method — Standard  of  educa- 
tion in  Europe — Commensurate  education — Duty  of  the  State — 


viii  CONTENTS. 

PAOB 

Conclusions  from,  classified — First,  second,  third,  fourth — Techno- 
logical education — Not  for  the  mass  of  children — Object  of  studies 
— Right  of  the  State — American  Institute  of  Instruction — Use  of 
tools — Reforms  in  matters  of  education  difficult — Science  in  the 
colleges 96 


CHAPTER   VII. 

The  art  of  drawing — Natural  order  of  studies  begins  with  it — The  les- 
son of  things — Effect  of,  on  industrial  education — Indispensable 
in  education — Massachusetts  and  New  York — Branch  cf  primary 
education  in — Prejudice  against  it — Practical  use  of  drawing — 
Exhibit  at  Centennial — French  commission  at — Experience  at 
Taunton — Women's  Art  School,  Cooper  Union — Walter  Smith's 
system — Drawing  ought  to  be  directed  to  the  industries — Beauty 
of  outline — It  is  teaching  every  trade  that  depends  upon  design — 
Involves  easy  lessons  in  geometry,  botany,  architecture,  and  his- 
tory— Geometrical  drawing  first — Ornament — Its  almost  universal 
application  in  the  olden  time — Then  came  utility  alone — The 
working  artist — Improvement  of  public  taste — Effect  upon  our  in- 
dustries— Mr.  Outis's  work — Dxawing  in  France — French  styles — 
Expenditures  for  teaching  it — The  reason  of  her  beautiful  works  — 
Great  Britain — Iler  expenditure  to  promote  the  art  of  drawing — 
Drawing  as  a  branch  of  study  in  this  country — Common  schools — 
The  importance  of  drawing  to  various  industries — Architecture  in 
New  York — Importation  of  workmen  for  building  .       .         ,         .  IIY 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  decorative  arts  depend  upon  principles  of  design — Their  position 
between  the  useful  and  scientific — Their  immense  development — 
Roman  and  Greek  decoration  —  Pompeii  —  Its  uncovered  orna- 
ments— Moorish  decoration — Its  magnificence  and  extent — Table- 
service  for  the  President — Glass-blowers  sent  to  the  United  States 
— Immigration — Skilled  occupations  of  immigrants — The  economic 
value  of  immigrants — Influx  of  cheap  labor — Exclusion  of  Chinese 
— William  A.  Carsey — An  American  mechanic  on  the  tariff,  cheap 


CONTENTS.  ix 

PAGE 

labor,  etc. — Cheap  labor  from  abroad — Trades-unions  limiting  the 
number  of  apprentices — Growth  of  our  productive  force,  and  of 
our  population — Skilled  labor  enriches  our  industries — "  Sheffield 
is  coming  to  America  " — American  steel  exhibit — American  por- 
celain— Palissy — Wedgwood  —  Gladstone's  speech  —  Wedgwood's 
improvements  —  His  beautiful  productions  —  Palissy  —  Enameled 
pottery  rediscovered  by  him — Our  work  in  pottery — Our  styles 
and  workers  obtained  from  abroad — Centennial  vase — New  branch 
of  industry — Every  potter  should  be  a  draughtsman — Drawing  as  a 
study — Colored  patterns  for  cotton  and  woolen  fabrics — The  use 
of  machinery  in  printing — Chemistry  in  that  art — Value  of  draw- 
ing in  it — It  yields  the  grand  secret  of  modern  industry — Univerr 
sal  practice  of  drawing  in  skilled  work — Should  be  taught  to  all — 
The  beautiful  is  overlooked — It  is  a  universal  element  in  nature    .  136 


CHAPTER   IX. 

Drawing  (continued) — The  Massachusetts  act  of  1870 — Want  of  teach- 
ers— Normal  Art  School — Current  methods  of  teaching  drawing — 
Professor  Kriisi's  views — Drawing  as  an  intellectual  discipline — 
It  compels  observation — Its  influence  upon  the  understanding  and 
the  imagination — It  is  an  educational  study 169 


CnAPTER  X. 

Technical  education  of  artisans  —  Art-industry  —  Industrial  school — 
Apprenticeship  —  Trades-unions  —  Restriction  in  the  number  of 
apprentices — No  restriction  except  want  of  character — Trades  to 
provide  technical  instruction — University  extension  in  England — 
American  boys — Clerks  and  artisans — Manual  skill  and  literary 
education  —  Duty  of  parents  —  Apprentice-schools  in  Belgium — 
Truth  and  knowledge 175 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   XL 

PAGE 

Education  of  young  artisans — Apprenticeship — English  legislation — 
Mr.  Jevons's  views — Adam  Smith's  opinion — Practically  no  ap- 
prenticeship in  the  United  States — Technological  schools  in  Europe 
— Trade-schools  in  Germany — Established  by  law — Supported  by 
the  state  or  local  authorities — The  school  at  Hamburg — Trade- 
schools  the  most  interesting — The  one  at  Barmen — Drawing  in  all 
the  German  schools — The  school  at  Chemnitz — Schools  at  Vienna 
— Technical  education  in  Switzerland — The  great  benefits  thereof 
to  that  country — Opinion  of  the  French  minister  in  that  country 
— The  first  industrial  school  founded  there  by  Pestalozzi — These 
institutions  in  France — After  the  Crystal  Palace  Exposition — A 
commission  appointed — Important  changes — Classification  of  in- 
dustrial schools  by  Professor  Thompson — Impossible  to  exemplify 
them  separately  —  £cole  municipal  d'Apprcntis  —  Account  of  the 
same — Visit  of  British  Commission  to  the  same — French  industrial 
schools  not  national — 'Scole  Saint-Nicolas — School  at  Roubaix — 
Government  support  within  two  years — The  republican  govern- 
ment established  a  national  system  recently — Schools  in  Belgium 
— Those  at  Ghent,  Tourn.iy,  Verviers,  and  the  cities — Apprentice- 
school  for  weaving — Technical  education  in  Great  Britain — Letter 
of  the  Chancellor — Views  of  Mr.  McLaren — Report  of  the  British 
Commission — Questions  which  arise  as  to  effect  in  Europe — Is  it 
suitable  for  the  United  States  ? — Universal  opinion  in  its  favor — 
Report  of  the  British  Commission — French  commission  of  inspection 
— School  la  Villette — Corbon,  senator,  upon  the  same — Tolain,  sena- 
tor, on  apprenticeship-schools — Industrial  training  the  necessity  of 
the  age — Good  effect  on  the  industrial  classes — Opinion  on  this 
subject — Views  of  educators  in  the  United  States — Shall  it  be  in 
the  public  school? — Different  views  entertained — Dr.  E.  E.  White 
— John  E.  Clarke — The  necessitv  of  this  instruction  admitted        .   196 


CHAPTER   XIL 

Education  applied  to  industry  in  the  United  States — Impulse  given  to 
it — Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  in  New  York — Mr.  Auchmuty's 
contribution  —  Instruction   in  trades,  common  and  decorative  — 


CONTENTS.  xi 

PAGB 

To  turn  out  trained  mechanics  —  New  York  trade-schools — Art- 
school  at  Trenton,  New  Jersey  —  The  youth  at  the  potteries — 
Lasell  Seminary — A  modified  industrial  school — Dwight  School, 
Boston — Sewing-classes  for  girls  in  Boston  schools — Excellent 
work  by  them — Art  needle-work  an  industry — For  house  decora- 
tion— On  ladies'  dresses — Code  in  England — Schools  for  sewing  in 
Switzerland — Germany — Bavaria — Drawing  in  embroidery — Dor- 
Chester  industrial  school — Public  schools  at  Montclair,  New  Jersey 
— Industrial  department — The  order  of  exercises — Industrial  art- 
school  in  Philadelphia  —  Mr.  Leland's  system  of  teaching  the 
minor  arts  —  Their  great  variety  —  Outlay  for  such  a  school — 
Practical  results — It  revives  the  popular  arts — Useful  to  all — The 
Spring  Garden  Institute  —  Mechanical  handiwork — Course  of  in- 
struction— Kcsults — Technological  and  industrial  training  schools 
— At  Worcester  and  St.  Louis  —  Industrial  home  school  at  West 
Washington,  District  of  Columbia — Cincinnati  School  of  Design 
— A  school  of  industrial  art — New  mode  of  industrial  education 
required — Reasons  for  the  change — Subdivision  of  labor — The  gen- 
eral artisan — Great  advantage  of — Manual  and  technical  instruc- 
tion the  practical  want — Appeal  to  the  wealthy     ....  221 


CHAPTER  Xlir. 

Industry  a  matter  of  state  importance — Schools  for  industry  to  be  es- 
tablished by  the  state — Course  pursued  by  Great  Britain — Art- 
schools  and  drawing  in  England — Effect  of,  on  prosperity — Jlanual 
instruction  correlated — IIow  to  treat  the  question — Not  to  be  in- 
troduced into  the  school-room — Dr.  White's  and  Mr.  MacAlister's 
views — Schools  at  Montclair  and  Philadelphia — Manual  training  in 
Europe  —  It  improves  the  pupils  —  Public  opinion— Conflicting 
opinions  and  objections  —  Statement  of  the  same  —  Diversity  of 
views — Mr.  Stetson's  —  Dr.  White's  —  United  States'  limited  pro- 
vision for  industrial  education — Consideration  of  popular  objec- 
tions— Instruction  in  the  use  of  tools  and  machinery — Illustra- 
tions— Pursuits  that  resemble  each  other — Mechanical  powers — 
Trades  easily  learned — Occupations  will  multiply — No  danger  of 
glutting  them — Jlode  of  industrial  instruction — Moderate  instruc- 
tion at  outset  —  Pupils  with  a  general  knowledge  of  hand-tools 


xii  CONTENTS. 

FAGB 

prepared  for  a  variety  of  trades  —  Illustrated  by  Mr.  Lcland'a 
school — A  community  of  skilled  workmen,  its  value — Further  no- 
tice of  industrial  schools  in  Europe — Statement  of  M.  Rossat — 
School  at  Charleville — Industrial  training  in  French  elementary 
schools — School  of  the  Rue  Tournefort — The  French  act  of  18S0 
— ^Programme  of  the  commission — Report  of  II.  Tolman,  senator 
— Conclusions  of  the  Boston  committee — Views  of  Mr.  Steel — 
Important  as  coming  from  the  right  quarter 248 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Application  of  experience — Speculative  improvement  tardy — Franklin's 
discovery  not  applied  for  one  hundred  years — Industrial  education 
in  the  United  States  rendered  simple — Classification  of  industrial 
schools  into  three  kinds — Each  described — The  developing  plan 
of  Ruggles — The  one  for  teaching  mechanic  art  recommended, 
and  the  reasons  stated — Public  education  a  fundamental  maxim — 
It  ought  to  be  for  the  greatest  number — Manual  training  in  public 
schools — Law  in  Massachusetts — The  great  body  of  the  people 
employed — Education  should,  therefore,  form  an  ability  for  the 
business  of  life — Intellectual  training  at  the  expense  of  manual 
and  social  virtue — Division  of  labor,  and  development  of  art — 
The  children  and  their  employment — Mr.  MacAlister's  address — 
Inexpensiveness  of  industrial  education  shown — Absolute  necessity 
of  manual  training — Education  at  public  expense — Reliance  on 
the  state — Form  of  government  depends  upon  people — How  chil- 
dren are  taught — In  an  ignorant  society  man  becomes  debased — 
Education  should  be  for  useful  purpose — Multiplicity  of  employ- 
ments, and  the  inducement  to  self-perfection — Training  the  great 
mass  of  workers  a  matter  of  life  or  death  —  Illustrations  —  Its 
proper  place  allotted  it  —  Richard  Grant  White — Special  trades 
not  favored  in  public  schools — Working-people  not  opposed  to 
the  manual  element  in  education  —  The  reason  why  they  should 
not  be  unfriendly  to  it — Spring  Garden  Institute — Examples  of 
working-men  receiving  instruction  —  Night-schools  attended  by 
working-people  for  studies  relating  to  industry — Encouragement 
from  extensive  firms  and  corporations  illustrated  by  an  example 
— Opportunities  for   industrial   education  —  Industrial   establish- 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

PAGR 

ments  willing  to  aid — Object  of  industrial  education — Wendell 
Phillips — Lord  Brougham's  remark — Professor  Smith's  views — 
Views  of  the  Boston  School  Committee — Expenditure  in  the  £colc 
municipal  d^Apprends — Effect  on  Paris — Graduates  of  our  schools 
— Professor  Kunkle's  views — Mechanic  art  of  wide  application — 
Confers  mental  discipline  and  increases  the  mental  powers   .         .  271 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Question  of  expense  considered — Cost  of  workshop  at  Gloucester — At 
the  Dwight  School,  Boston — Estimates  of  Mr.  Chaney — Mr.  Leland's 
school  at  Philadelphia  —  Of  the  Industrial  School  at  Montclair, 
New  Jersey — Estimates  of  Mr.  Royce — Of  the  Spring  Garden  Insti- 
tute— Helpless  condition  of  the  graduate,  growing  out  of  an  exclu- 
sively intellectual  training — Natural  substances  are  fitted  by  indus- 
try for  use — Cost  of  support  for  public  schools — Object  of  educa- 
tion —  Manual  skill  and  knowledge  —  High-schools  —  Professor 
Runkle's  remarks  upon  high-schools — Manual  training ;  its  ad- 
vantages— Mechanical  art — Multiplicity  of  talent — The  benefit  of 
generalizing  illustrated  by  botany  and  chemistry — Applied  to  me- 
chanic art — Drawing  in  all  art — Generalizing  tools — The  use  of 
machinery  —  Has  not  superseded  the  necessity  for  skilled  work- 
men— Machinery  has  multiplied  employments  —  Illustrations  of 
the  power-loom,  printing-press,  steam-engine,  and  cotton-gin — 
Effects  of  machinery  in  reducing  prices  and  increasing  conven- 
iences— The  demand  for  perfection  of  workmanship — Examples 
of  well-paid  skill  —  Inventions  and  industrial  ambition  —  The 
forces  of  matter  made  useful  —  Machine-tools — Hand-skill  still 
required  —  Building,  carriage-making,  etc. — The  useful  arts  co- 
operative— The  use  of  machinery  not  art — The  trained  artisan 
thinks  while  he  works — Connection  of  science  with  useful  art — 
The  mechanic  the  true  demonstrator — Science-schools  in  Great 
Britain — In  the  United  States — In  public  schools — Education  in 
the  rudiments  of  science  a  necessity — Laboratories  and  work- 
shops attached  to  high-schools — Not  to  teach  a  particular  trade, 
but  the  underlying  principles  of  all  trades — Objection  answered — 
System  illustrated — Mr.  Magnus — City  and  Guilds  of  London  In- 
stitute— Finsbury  Technical  College — The  system  adapted  to  our 
public  schools .        .         .  296 


XIV  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

PAGB 

Chemistry  as  an  industrial  science — Its  necessity  in  the  ai-t  of  dyeing 
— Colors  elaborated  by  chemists — Those  derived  from  coal-tar — 
Its  use  in  the  fine  arts  and  in  other  industries — Mathematics  ilkis- 
trated  in  the  useful  arts — Views  of  Herbert  Spencer  and  Dr.  Dick 
— Hydrostatics — Principles  of  the  law  of  fluids  and  their  application 
to  industrial  purposes — Electricity  as  a  mechanical  agent — Its  sub- 
serviency to  man's  direction — Its  wide  diffusion  and  power — Prog- 
ress made,  and  the  new  arts  to  which  it  is  applied — Geology  and 
n:^incralogy — Geological  deductions  —  Irregularities  in  formation 
and  their  study — Various  facts  of  the  science  set  forth,  which 
have  been  applied  to  artificial  uses — Mineral  wealth  of  the  United 
States — Methodical  study  in  our  schools — The  division  of  labor — 
Applied  in  every  branch  of  industry,  especially  where  machinery  is 
used — If  one  has  been  educated  in  the  mechanic  art,  he  is  not  hkely 
to  become  a  machine — Technic  knowledge  opens  access  to  many 
occupations — The  invention  of  labor  saving  machines  frequent  in 
this  country — Universal  education,  its  advantages — American  in- 
ventions— London  "  Times  "  on  the  exhibit  at  the  Paris  Exposition, 
1878 — Those  in  general  use — Causes  of  inventive  activity — Clas- 
sical learning,  a  digression — Amherst — The  English  language — 
Greek  and  Latin  should  not  take  all  the  time  and  space — True 
knowledge  not  to  be  sacrificed  to  verbalism — The  ingenuity  of  the 
people  is  a  national  characteristic — Plan  of  education  at  Athens — 
Rome — In  Germany — In  France — England — Scotland — Lord  Bacon 
and  Locke — Bede  and  Alcuin — Mechanical  training  to  develop  our 
capacities  —  The  effect  of  machinery  upon  the  condition  of  the 
working-man — ^Various  instances  cited — Does  it  dispense  with  his 
vocation  ? — Agricultural  implements — The  railroad — Iron  ships — 
Improvements  give  more  and  finer  work  than  they  displace  — Ma- 
chinery depends  upon  scientific  principles — A  knowledge  of  these 
important  to  the  artisan  who  fabricates  them — The  study  of  me- 
chanic art  indispensable  —  Industrial  instruction  —  England  and 
France — It  is  a  public  question — It  is  a  mistake  to  wait  for  local 
industries  to  begin  the  educational  work  —  Wealth,  population, 
and  intelligence 321 


CONTENTS.  xy 

CHAPTER   XVir. 

PA(.E 

Moral  influence  of  industry — West  Philadelphia  Penitentiary — Criminal 
statistics  —  Necessity  of  manual  training  to  correct  degrading 
views  of  labor — Also  as  preparatory  for  the  safety  of  society — 
Advantages  of  industrial  education  to  workmen — It  improves  their 
condition  and  cultivates  the  moral  affections — Early  impressions — 
Mr.  Richards's  views — Exclusive  intellectual  training  creates  a 
disdain  for  labor — The  connection  between  idleness  and  vice — 
Public  schools  progressive — The  friends  of  industrial  education 
should  vindicate  the  public  schools  for  their  reconstructing  tend- 
ency— Mr.  Eraser's  report  to  the  British  Government — The  im- 
provement of  public  schools  since  that  time — The  education  of 
Indians — Hampton  Institute — It  is  an  industrial  school — Indians 
taught  trades  —  The  best  way  to  educate  and  civilize  them — 
Manual  training  as  an  antidote  to  over-study — Dr.  Richardson's 
views — Boston  committee  on  the  subject — The  Industrial  Home 
School  at  Washington — The  effect  of  skill  in  workmanship  upon 
the  condition  of  the  workers — Science  and  art  mutually  aid  each 
other  —  The  laboring  artist  reappears  —  The  establishment  of 
Messrs.  Minton — "  L'Art  Revue  " — Fine  art  in  the  United  States 
— Production  in  art-industry — Its  humanizing  influence — Art  and 
science — Mental  industry  and  material  industry  in  close  alliance — 
The  worker  is  rising  higher  and  higher,  and  is  gaining  in  intel- 
lectual enjoyment — Industrial  education  the  working-man's  best 
friend 344 


APPENDIX. 

Extract  from  the  Annual  Catalogue,  1881-'8?,  of  the  School  for  Man- 
ual Instruction  of  Washington  University,  St.  Louis,  referred  to  in 
Chapter  V 367 

Appendix  Second  to  Chapter  V .  375 


CHAPTER  I. 

Industrial  education  neglected — The  lessons  of  things — The  education  of 
children  before  the  period  of  school — The  understanding  and  the  senses 
— The  education  of  thought  and  language — Mission  of  the  senses  and 
physical  organs — The  eyes  and  the  fingers  translate  the  works  of  the 
spirit — Sensible  objects  sources  of  information — Cultivating  half  the 
faculties — Simple  ideas  powerless  unless  embodied  in  some  form — The 
hand — Montaigne  on  the  hand — Outis  on  the  void  in  education — The 


Ko  discussion  regarding  the  useful  pursuits  of  life 
can  take  place  at  present  without  an  emphatic  recogni- 
tion of  the  claims  of  industrial  education.  When  we 
consider  that  all  labor  is  now  directed  bj  knowledge,  and 
must  continue  to  be  so  still  more  in  the  future,  we  may 
be  sensible  of  some  surprise  at  the  little  effort  made  in 
our  educational  system  to  meet  this  want.  It  will  be 
generally  admitted  that  an  educated  person  should  gain 
assistance  from  his  studies  when  he  comes  to  earn  a  live- 
lihood. But  our  boys  and  girls,  for  the  most  part,  have 
no  occupation,  and  are  fit  for  none  when  they  leave 
school.  They  know  enough,  but  can  do  nothing;  they 
have  learning,  but  no  capacity.  The  industrial  pursuits 
of  life,  upon  which  the  whole  fabric  of  society  reposes, 
are  quite  ignored.  Education  is  bestowed  upon  the  mind, 
while  all  the  executive  functions  of  the  physical  system 
are  neglected.     These  executive  functions  are  certainly 


2       EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

as  important  as  a  knowledge  of  geography,  spelling,  de- 
fining, and  grammar,  of  whicli  the  details  are  so  often 
without  interest,  and  do  not  in  any  way  develop  the 
faculties  that  deal  with  the  realities  of  life ;  nor  do  such 
studies  enable  the  pupils  to  speak  of  anything  belonging 
to  any  calling,  pursuit,  or  manufactured  article  on  earth. 
It  would  seem  from  our  system  of  public  instruction  that 
there  existed  no  such  pursuits  as  that  by  which  men  can 
earn  a  living,  no  employment  which  requires  manual  skill 
of  any  kind,  and  no  such  things  in  the  world  as  machines 
and  tools  and  applied  science  except  as  mere  figures  of 
speech.  To  graduate  one  taught  to  think  only,  is  like 
sending  a  ship  to  sea  in  charge  of  a  navigator  without  a 
pilot,  or  a  single  person  on  board  who  can  understand  or 
execute  his  commands.  Mental  improvement  is  an  inap- 
preciable blessing,  but  do  not  the  eye  and  the  hand  im- 
prove the  earth  and  fill  the  world  with  comfort  and 
beauty?  Man  was  endowed  with  both  to  subdue  the 
earth,  and  a  proper  education  necessarily  includes  the 
cultivation  of  a  taste  for  lessons  in  regard  to  things  as 
well  as  ideas.  Our  earliest  education  is  a  sensible  one, 
and  adapted  to  our  condition.  Our  first  teachers  and 
masters  in  philosophy  are  our  hands,  our  eyes,  and  our 
sensations.  The  facts  communicated  to  the  child  by  ex- 
perience may  seem  to  be  acquired  rather  by  the  opera- 
tions of  instinct  than  of  intellect,  but  the  term  education 
is  as  applicable  to  this  training  as  to  the  formal  teaching 
of  the  school.  Whatever  he  sees,  or  hears,  or  feels, 
teaches  him  a  thousand  things  necessary  to  a  narrow  set 
of  exigencies,  and  gives  him  the  mastery  of  his  limited 
necessities.  He  learns  to  speak  after  his  first  or  second 
year,  and  acquires  grammar  before  he  can  say  his  alpha- 


CHILDHOOD   AND  PHILOSOPHY.  3 

bet.  He  can  hear  with  understanding  much  that  is  s^id, 
and  comprehends  the  duty  of  obedience.  He  knows  the 
effect  of  heat  and  cold,  and  many  of  the  mechanical 
properties  of  the  atmosphere.  Trees  and  herbs  and  flow- 
ers are  distinguished  ;  birds  and  beasts  are  recognized, 
and  all  sensible  objects  draw  forth  questions  which  dis- 
play observation  and  reflection ;  and,  in  fact,  he  acts  in- 
telligently upon  a  great  variety  of  ideal  objects.  He 
can  appreciate  moral  precepts,  and  understands  the  differ- 
ence between  kindness,  honesty  and  trath,  and  fraud, 
deceit  and  profanity.  In  fact,  many  of  the  intellectual 
habits  of  life  are  formed  in  childhood  ;  and  what  he 
learns  of  useful  truths  and  their  practical  application 
often  exercises  an  influence  for  good  or  evil  over  his  sub- 
sequent conduct.  This  is  the  natural  method  adojited  by 
Froebel  for  training  children,  and  consists  in  learning  the 
reality  of  things. 

Philosophy  teaches  that  mental  perceptions  depend 
upon  the  senses,  and  that  the  faculty  of  understanding 
objective  phenomena  is  in  the  mind.  Without  the  senses 
no  object  would  come  into  the  mind,  and  without  the 
mind  no  object  would  be  understood  by  the  senses.  The 
latter  can  not  think,  and  the  former  can  not  perceive.  In 
no  other  way  than  by  the  united  operation  of  both  can 
knowledge  arise.  We  can  thus  acknowledge  the  elements 
contributed  by  each  to  our  improvement,  and  that  no  use 
of  the  understanding  is  possible  until  it  can  represent  it- 
self in  the  different  objects  upon  which  the  hand  of  labor 
is  employed  ;  for  the  mere  existence  of  an  idea  or  thought 
will  never  give  birth  to  a  concrete  form  corresponding  to 
it,  except  by  the  aid  of  manual  skill.  This  is  the  condition 
upon  which  all  improvement  or  progress  depends,  and 


4       EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

would  seem  to  suggest  the  adequate  preparation  of  both 
sense  and  mind  for  the  common  work.  Such,  liowever,  has 
not  been  the  course  of  education.  Thought  requires  the 
power  of  language  to  express  its  intelligence,  and  without 
words  spoken  or  written,  mental  operations,  it  has  been 
held,  would  have  no  mode  of  representation ;  and  it  is 
upon  the  co-activitj  of  these  faculties — thought  and  lan- 
guage— alone  that  education  has  mainly  concerned  itself. 
The  whole  system  has,  therefore,  mostly  been  the  edu- 
cation in  language.  This  partial  and  one-sided  method 
overlooks  the  simple  fact  that  words  are  but  the  symbols 
of  realities  ;  whereas  our  vague  and  indefinite  impressions 
become  fixed  and  palpable  only  through  the  employment 
of  manual  skill  and  mechanical  art,  by  which  also  the 
imagination,  the  memory,  invention,  and  emotion,  mani- 
fest their  marvelous  and  enduring  effects.  To  convey 
the  images  of  external  things  to  the  mental  faculties,  and 
to  work  out  the  thoughts  created  in  the  mind,  is  the  mis- 
sion of  our  physical  organs.  Thus  it  is  that  there  is  car- 
ried on  between  the  external  and  the  internal  a  perpet- 
ual correspondence,  and  the  work  goes  on  inside  and 
outside  much  of  the  time  quite  independently  of  our 
wishes  or  our  feelings.  This  mutual  relation  is  upon 
the  principle  that  whatever  adds  to  the  improvement  and 
strength  of  one  will  fortify  and  elevate  the  other.  The 
eyes  and  the  fingers  translate  the  works  of  the  spirit,  and 
mingle  with  its  thought  in  the  form  of  useful  and  beau- 
tiful objects.  This  is  the  lesson  of  things  which  play 
nearly  the  whole  role  of  human  experience.  Figures, 
the  stars,  music,  and  all  sensible  objects,  are  means  of  sen- 
sible information.  What  would  the  eye  of  the  astrono- 
mer be  worth,  unless  trained  to  watch  the  heavens  with 


LESSONS  OF  THINGS.  5 

an  artificial  vision  to  which  that  of  the  eagle  can  not  be 
compared?  What  would  geometry  profit  if  we  could 
handle  nothing  solid,  round,  square,  or  in  some  other 
form  besides  the  lines  and  curves  which  the  eye  alone 
can  perceive?  What  effect  would  music  have  upon  the 
soul  were  it  not  for  the  harmonious  quality  of  the  ear  ? 
Or,  how  could  we  learn  anything  of  botany  without 
going  among  the  herbs  and  visiting  the  trees  ?  There  are 
no  formal  lessons  in  this,  little  or  no  didactic  teaching. 
Objects  are  conveyed  to  the  intelligence  which  excite  re- 
flection and  thought,  and  these  again  are  wrought  by  the 
skill  of  man's  physical  powers  into  all  the  multitudinous 
utilities  of  practical  life.  Does  not  this  community  of 
labor  suggest  equality  of  education  ?  A  cultivation  ob- 
tained at  the  expense  of  one  haK  of  the  faculties  which 
are  no  less  important  in  working  out  our  life,  is  a  vain 
effort  at  the  perfection  of  our  nature.  A  culture  gained 
in  one  respect  by  the  sacrifice  of  all  else  can  never  be 
anything  but  a  failure,  for  it  is  a  serious  drawback  to  the 
educational  system,  and  to  the  mind  itself  which  receives 
this  preference. 

The  metaphysicians  tell  us  that  the  world  is  governed 
by  ideas.  This  is  a  pleasing  metaphor  for  the  suggestions 
of  philosophy.  Common  sense  teaches  that  ideas  have 
little  potency  until  they  are  incarnated  in  deeds  by  the 
industrious  hand  of  man..  The  bare  idea  of  steam  ex- 
pansion hobbled  along  for  thousands  of  years,  until  the 
engine  of  Watt  converted  it  into  the  greatest  power  that 
ever  swayed  the  world.  So  of  the  steamboat,  the  loco- 
motive, the  cotton-gin,  the  power-loom,  and  hundreds  of 
other  inventions  that  have  revolutionized  society,  and  in 
which  practical  mechanics  have  won  a  herculean  victory 


6       EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

almost  single-handed  and  alone.  The  essence  of  power 
exists  in  the  mind,  but  without  any  showing  or  influence 
when  it  lacks  executive  capacity,  which  dwells  in  the  or- 
gans of  the  physical  frame,  and  above  all  in  the  arm,  the 
hand,  and  the  technic  skill  of  the  fingers. 

Man  is  a  living  force,  a  fountain  of  ideas.  The  organs 
of  the  physical  frame  correspond  to  those  of  his  mind, 
and  are  parts  of  the  same  equipment.  lie  has  two  arms 
and  hands  and  eyes,  and  the  conception  of  power  without 
them  is  weakness.  Thoughts  are  demonstrated  by  deeds, 
and  the  hands  and  arms  are  the  instruments  which  re- 
deem this  weakness  and  give  us  the  idea  embodied  in 
experience. 

The  hand  is  a  remarkable  example  of  sinewy  power 
and  muscular  delicacy  of  touch,  and  when  its  skill  co- 
ordinates with  the  eye  and  the  will,  many  of  its  acts  im- 
press us  with  profound  admiration.  It  produces  results 
so  fine  and  delicate,  that  it  seems  as  if  the  spirit  itself 
passed  into  the  variously-formed  objects  of  its  exquisite 
perfections. 

The  hand  intellectualizes  the  body.  In  a  certain  sense 
the  mind  itself  is  dependent  upon  it.  All  fineness  of 
work  comes  from  its  sublime  possibilities  for  high  labor. 
Everything  that  proceeds  out  of  the  infinite  delicacy  of 
our  nature  requires  its  service. 

We  are  indebted  to  the  eye  for  the  perception  of  ex- 
ternal objects  in  regard  to  form  and  color.  The  hand 
also  aids  the  eye  to  attain  the  same  end,  and  while  the 
eye  is  situated  to  insure  the  widest  range  of  sight,  the 
hand  is  docile  to  the  command  of  the  mind,  and  com- 
bines and  transforms  its  ideas  and  sentiments  into  visible 
objects.     In  instrumental  music  it  exercises 


THE  HAND.  7 

"  The  matchless  skill,  the  potent  art  that  brings 
Voices  of  earth  or  heaven  from  those  mute  strings." 

Says  a  recent  writer :  "  So  much  does  the  power  and 
dominion  of  man  over  inferior  animals,  crude  materials, 
and  natural  forces  depend  upon  the  hand  that,  were  it 
possible  to  deprive  the  human  race  of  this  important 
member  and  put  in  its  stead  a  mere  paw  or  hoof,  it  might 
well  be  asserted  that  man  would  soon  find  a  common  level 
with  the  beasts,  notwithstanding  his  superior  intellect." 

This  extract  illustrates  in  a  striking  manner  the  con- 
dition we  should  be  in  without  the  use  of  this  member  of 
our  body.  Man  would  be  worse  off  than  a  savage  and  more 
imbecile  than  the  beasts.  "With  its  aid  the  mind  subdues 
the  ferocities  of  nature  to  the  wants  of  the  sjDirit.  It  is 
the  symbol  of  man's  power,  for  while  the  head  wears  the 
crown  the  hand  holds  the  scepter.  The  ancients  endowed 
it  with  intelligent  qualities,  and  foretold  the  future  by  its 
inspection — the  gift  of  prophecy.  It  grasps  all  instru- 
ments for  our  progress,  from  the  pen  to  the  plowshare. 
Its  wonderful  precision,  quickness,  dexterity,  and  discrimi- 
nation come  from  an  anatomical  organization  of  muscles, 
levers  and  pulleys  which  enables  it  to  perform  its  number- 
less operations  in  the  service  of  man.  The  finest  machinery 
and  inventions  fall  short  of  its  cunning ;  and  without  its 
ingenious  manipulations  the  comforts  of  civilized  life 
would  disappear  out  of  the  industries  of  mankind.  It  has 
even  a  language  of  its  own.  Says  Montaigne :  "Would 
you  think  it  ?  With  our  very  hands  we  require,  promise, 
call,  dismiss,  threaten,  supplicate,  deny,  interrogate,  ad- 
mire, number,  confer,  repent,  fear,  confound,  doubt,  in- 
struct, command,  incite,  encourage,  swear,  testify,  accuse, 
condemn,  absolve,  affront,  despise,  defy,  provoke,  flatter. 


8       EDUCATION  IN  ITS  GELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

applaud,  bless,  humble,  mock,  reconcile,  recommend,  exalt, 
entertain,  rejoice,  complain,  refuse,  despair,  wonder,  ex- 
claim, keep  silence,  and  what  not ;  and  all  this  with  a  varia- 
tion and  multipKcation  even  to  the  emulation  of  speech." 

Mr.  Outis,  in  his  book  on  "  The  Yoid  in  Modern  Edu- 
cation," declares  that  the  great  want  is  an  integral  educa- 
tion of  our  various  faculties ;  the  culture  of  the  whole 
human  creature  instead  of  a  fraction  of  it,  to  take  the 
place  of  the  present  system,  which  develops  the  intellect 
to  the  total  neglect  of  the  emotional  nature :  like  expand- 
ing the  boiler,  and  leaving  the  furnace  unenlarged.  The 
whole  scale  of  graduated  animal  life  exempHfies  com- 
mensurate development,  and  the  whole  scale  of  social  life 
demands  commensurate  development.  He  owns  to  a  cor- 
dial interest  in  art,  and  confesses  that  it  was  while  con- 
templating the  perplexed  difficulties  of  English  education 
generally  that  a  discipline  in  the  graphic  art — a  training 
of  taste,  eye,  and  hand  in  behoof  of  beauty  and  expres- 
sion— appeared  to  him  with  more  and  more  certainty  the 
missing  educational  element. 

While  sympathizing  in  the  views  of  this  author  as 
far  as  they  go,  a  simple  extension  of  the  same  thought 
enables  us  to  see  that  not  only  do  intellect  and  emotions 
exist,  but  that  there  can  be  no  symmetrical  development 
of  the  whole  man  which  overlooks  the  wonderful  phe- 
nomena of  our  physical  nature.  A  thousand  errors  com- 
bine to  make  us  wish  that  the  science  of  human  life  was 
better  understood  and  more  generally  made  an  indispen- 
sable part  in  the  studies  of  our  schools.  I  know  it  is  often 
objected  that  too  many  things  are  taught,  and  that  the 
tendency  is  to  introduce  still  more.  However  true  this 
remark  may  be  with  regard  to  astronomy,  botany,  spell- 


TRAINING  THE  PHYSICAL  POWERS.  9 

ing  and  defining,  or  the  ancient  classics,  certainly  the 
study  of  our  own  physical  organs  should  stand  upon  a 
different  footing,  since  upon  a  knowledge  of  their  opera- 
tion and  capacity  depend  our  health,  strength,  and  the 
refinement  of  our  intellectual  and  emotional  faculties. 
As  it  is  a  branch  of  the  same  problem,  I  may  be  indulged, 
at  the  risk  of  a  brief  digression,  with  a  suggestion  in  re- 
gard to  the  training  of  all  the  powers  and  functions  of 
our  physical  organization.  They  constitute  the  forces  of 
living  beings  and  furnish  the  means  of  self-preservation. 
A  man  may  not  be  able  to  tell  whether  Jupiter  has  four 
or  six  satellites,  but  his  ignorance  does  not  disturb  their 
harmony  ;  he  may  be  unacquainted  with  the  marvelous 
processes  of  vegetable  life,  but  that  does  not  prevent  the 
plants  from  maturing  into  the  full  perfection  of  their 
beauty ;  he  may  never  have  learned  the  difference  be- 
tween an  acid  and  an  alkali,  but  chemical  affinities  will 
display  their  wonders  in  spite  of  all  that.  It  is  not  so, 
however,  with  the  structure  of  our  bodies  and  the  laws 
of  physical  life.  There  is  a  vast  portion  of  human  knowl- 
edge belonging  to  special  pursuits,  and  whoever  engages 
in  any  of  these  requires  a  training  in  the  special  science 
or  art  relating  thereto.  But  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of 
physical  development  is  equally  essential  to  all  men.  Our 
external  faculties  are  few,  being  computed  at  five,  yet  in 
their  endowment  and  operation  they  are  so  intermingled 
and  combined  as  to  impart  to  our  outward  movements  and 
actions  an  almost  infinite  variety  of  use  and  expression. 
When  properly  trained  and  in  their  natural  play,  they 
work  together  like  the  parts  of  a  well-regulated  machine, 
and  the  sensory  nature  moves  on  to  a  still  larger  corre- 
spondence with  whatever  enlarges  the  mind  and  brightens 

the  life  of  man. 
2 


CHAPTEE  II. 

Industrial  history  in  France — Her  skilled  labor  and  prosperity — Art-schools 
and  the  excellence  of  her  fabrics — British  trade — Its  effect  on  Europe 
— Schools  on  the  Continent — The  Ecole  municipal  d'Apprentis  in 
Paris — School  at  Besan9on — School  of  the  Christian  Brothers — The 
Ecole  professionnelle  of  MM.  Chaix  et  Cie. — School  at  Creuzot — Count 
Hasrach — Weaving-school  at  Mulhouse  and  Epinal — Industrial  educa- 
tion at  Limoges — The  Ecole  des  Arts  et  Metiers — Government  aid  to 
art  education  in  France — State  aid  discussed — Belgium,  Germany, 
Bavaria,  Wiirtemberg,  Nuremberg — The  French  commission — Schools 
in  other  countries  of  Europe. 

That  education  lias  to  do  with  manual  training,  is  a 
fact  that  has  been  recognized  in  the  educational  systems 
of  nearly  all  civilized  nations ;  and  the  effect  of  it  upon 
the  useful  arts  and  upon  the  greatness  and  happiness  of 
a  people  has  not  been  better  illustrated  in  modern  times 
than  in  the  industrial  history  of  France.  Not  many  cent- 
uries have  elapsed  since  only  the  great  and  rich  were 
able  to  have  domestics  who  were  qualified  to  supply  them 
with  some  articles  of  trade  in  common  use.  Occasionally 
an  artificer  working  alone,  without  influence  and  without 
wealth,  would  furnish  an  article  of  beauty,  or  decorate  a 
church  or  an  altar-piece  with  consummate  grace.  But  the 
industrial  classes  were  for  the  most  part  in  a  debased  con- 
dition.    "We  know  that  this  is  changed,  and  that  the  most 


FREXCU   INDUSTRIAL   ART,  H 

tliorough  artisans  in  tlie  world  are  found  in  France,  and 
tliat  the  whole  earth  now  pays  tribute  to  her  art  and  taste. 
She  has  been  devastated  by  mighty  wars  ;  her  people  have 
been  sacrificed  by  millions ;  her  expenditure  has  been 
almost  beyond  computation,  and  yet  to-day  she  is,  next 
to  Great  Britain,  the  richest  of  all  nations,  while  perhaps 
her  people  are  the  happiest  in  Europe.  We  can  remem- 
ber her  spoliation  in  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  and  the 
heavy  indemnity  with  which  she  was  compelled  to  ran- 
som her  peace ;  and  we  can  also  remember  how  she  arose 
as  if  by  some  supernatural  influence  from  a  prostration 
which  would  have  indefinitely  destroyed  the  industries 
of  almost  any  other  nation,  and  attained  at  a  single  step 
to  the  summit  of  prosperity.  Just  exactly  how  this  was 
managed  puzzled  those  who  did  not  consider  her  cultivated 
arts.  She  had  a  monopoly  in  the  markets  of  the  world  for 
many  kinds  of  commodities  which  depend  upon  design 
and  finish,  and  in  which  she  had  scarcely  a  competitor. 
Her  skilled  labor  brought  in  its  account  against  the  world, 
and  every  civilized  nation  contributed  to  her  prosperity. 
The  foundations  of  her  success  were  laid  when  art-schools 
were  first  established  for  the  instruction  of  her  children. 
Drawing  and  designing  were  taught  to  thousands  of 
pupils,  and  their  eyes  and  tastes  were  at  the  same  time 
instructed  by  the  beautiful  statues  and  pictures  of  the 
masters.  These  schools  have  been  multiplied  until  they 
exist  in  all  the  cities  and  manufacturing  communities  in 
France ;  and  the  French  workman  has  become  the  most 
accomplished  artisan  that  the  world  has  ever  seen.  An 
annual  importation  into  this  country  alone  of  three  or 
four  hundred  millions  worth  of  the  productions  of  French 
industrial  art  is  evidence  that  it  is  not  the  pauper  labor 


12    EDUCATION  U  ITS  RELATIOX  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

of  Euroj)e,  bnt  skilled  labor  of  the  liighest  order,  that 
affects  our  own  industries. 

The  establishment  of  these  schools  by  the  French 
accounts  largely  for  their  superiority  in  architecture,  en- 
graving, and  pottery,  as  well  as  for  the  beauty  and  ele- 
gance of  their  silks,  satins,  muslins,  and  brocades ;  and 
perhaps  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  in  all  the  arts  ap- 
plied to  industry  the  superior  excellence  of  their  fabrics 
is  confessed  by  other  manufacturing  nations.  It  is  not, 
therefore,  surprising  that  France  has  given  such  a  splen- 
did example  of  industrial  or  art  education. 

This  was  undoubtedly  to  a  considerable  extent  the 
work  of  necessity.  Great  Britain  had  spread  her  domin- 
ion until  with  the  reveille  of  her  drums,  which  followed 
the  sun  around  the  globe,  her  commerce  and  manufactures 
were  carried  even  beyond  her  conquests  or  colonial  pos- 
sessions. IS^owhere  had  there  ever  been  presented  such  a 
combination  of  facilities  for  industrial  art.  She  possessed 
accumulated  capital,  and  her  crowded  population  fur- 
nished practiced  and  cheap  labor.  These  with  her  abun- 
dance of  coal,  iron,  ships,  steam-engines,  ingenious  me- 
chanics, enterprising  merchants,  hardy  sailors,  and  splen- 
did navigators  to  carry  her  products  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  had  afforded  grounds  for  the  boast  of  her  historian 
that  she  was  the  workshop  of  the  world.  The  Continental 
nations  viewed  this  prodigious  increase  of  British  manu- 
facture and  trade  with  an  eager  solicitude ;  and  France, 
Germany,  Switzerland,  and  others  were  roused  to  a  deter- 
mination not  to  be  satisfied  without  attaining  a  superiority 
in  all  the  departments  of  useful  art.  Hence  came  schools 
of  various  names  but  with  the  same  general  purpose, 
adapted  to  local  necessities  and  the  industrial  education 


fiCOLE   MUNICIPAL  D'APPRENTIS.  13 

of  the  people.  First  established  on  anything  like  a  gen- 
eral footing  in  France,  and  afterward  in  Belgium,  Ger- 
many, and  Switzerland,  they  have  been  the  means  of  con- 
tributing to  tlie  splendid  industries  pursued  in  the  prin- 
cipal cities  and  towns  of  Europe. 

Here  tlie  workmen  are  trained  intellectually  in  their 
special  art,  and  the  manufactory,  the  workshop,  and  the 
school-room  are  not  unfrequently  combined  in  the  same 
system  of  education  and  reciprocal  dependence. 

In  the  present  condition  of  the  useful  arts  it  is  neces- 
sary that  workmen  should  understand  the  theory  of  their 
handicraft.  The  ideas  which  have  prevailed  in  Europe 
have  been  developed  for  a  number  of  years  in  an  almost 
endless  variety  of  schools ;  and  although  those  schools 
embrace  a  very  great  diversity  of  organizatioTi,  and  are 
directed  to  educating  workmen  in  every  species  of  in- 
dustry above  the  rudest  labor,  yet  they  all  agree  in  im- 
parting a  mixed  system  of  literary  and  technical  instruc- 
tion. For  example,  take  one  of  those  recently  estab- 
lished in  Paris,  the  ^cole  muniaipal  (V Apjprentis.  It 
was  founded  at  the  expense  of  the  city,  and  began  its 
work  in  1872.  No  pupil  is  admitted  before  the  age  of 
thirteen.  The  course  of  instruction  lasts  three  years, 
about  half  the  time  being  given  to  schooling  and  the 
other  half  to  practical  work  in  one  or  other  of  the  work- 
shops. Professor  Thompson,  after  having  visited  tliis 
school  seven  times,  writes  that  "the  results  attained  by 
this  school  are  truly  striking."  When  we  come,  in  a  sub- 
sequent part  of  this  work,  to  discuss  the  feasibility  of 
combining  industrial  with  public  school  instruction,  we 
will  transcribe  a  more  particular  description  of  it,  from  a 
recent  publication,  as  probably  the  finest  example  of  an 


14      EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

ideal  industrial  school.  It  is  a  striking  evidence  of  the 
force  and  direction  which  industrial  education  has  attained 
in  France,  and  of  how  much  is  being  done  in  that  coun- 
try to  invest  mechanical  labor  with  honorable  distinction, 
by  giving  to  the  humblest  children  the  means  of  practical 
education,  so  that  by  their  intelligence  and  skill  they  can 
earn  a  livelihood  and  aspire  to  a  condition  far  superior  to 
their  present  one. 

The  famous  municipal  school  of  theoretical  and  prac- 
tical watch-manufacture  at  Besangon  is  an  instance  of 
a  technical  school  founded  at  the  expense  of  the  city 
which  is  the  principal  seat  of  the  industry  it  is  designed 
to  promote.  Besangon  supplies  four  fifths  of  all  the 
watches  sold  in  France,  and  the  school  has  for  its  object 
thoroughly  to  teach  the  children  in  the  trade  they  intend 
to  follow.  They  are  taught  not  only  to  turn  and  temper 
metals  and  to  make  the  several  parts  of  a  watch,  but  to 
manipulate  atoms  as  small  as  the  grain  of  sand  that  drops 
through  the  hour-glass ;  and  their  technical  education  re- 
lates to  everything  having  a  bearing  upon  the  work,  such 
as  arithmetic,  mensuration,  geography,  mechanical  draw- 
ing, geometry,  and  composition.  When  they  have  com- 
pleted the  course  of  study,  they  know  how  to  mark  the 
divisions  of  time  with  ease  and  accuracy  for  horological 
purposes,  and  can  graduate  the  dial  of  a  common  watch  so 
that  a  second-hand  in  its  circuit  can  be  read  at  each  fiftieth 
of  the  circle  it  describes,  and  the  vibrations  of  a  pendulum 
beating  seconds  through  every  hundredth  division  of  its 
proper  arc.  Skilled  labor  in  this  ingenious  art  constitutes 
the  wealth  of  that  community ;  and  the  public,  appreciat- 
ing the  general  effect,  are  willing  to  incur  the  burden  of 
its  support  for  the  general  industrial  and  commercial  ad- 


SCHOOLS  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  BROTHERS.  15 

vantages  conferred  by  a  thorough  and  educated  knowl- 
edge of  watch-making. 

The  schools  of  the  Christian  Brothers,  located  in  the 
Rue  de  Vaugirard,  Paris,  may  be  considered  a  good  ex- 
ample of  a  private  institution  for  ordinary  instruction 
and  manual  training  combined.  It  has  frequently  been 
mentioned  by  writers  with  much  commendation.  The 
school-buildings  form  a  quadrangle,  and  the  inclosure 
serves  as  a  play-ground.  The  students  are  as  young  as 
eight  or  nine  years,  but  are  not  put  to  a  trade  until  they 
attain  thirteen.  In  the  mean  while  they  are  instructed  in 
the  elementary  branches,  and,  in  addition  thereto,  in  ar- 
chitectural and  mechanical  drawing  in  outline  and  shaded, 
with  free-hand  drawing  and  the  rudiments  of  designing 
as  applied  to  industrial  objects.  Those  destined  for  an 
industrial  career  are,  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  put  to  learn 
trades  in  the  workshops  connected  with  the  establish- 
ment. "  Gilding,  carving  in  wood  or  stone,  trunk  and 
portmanteau  making,  shoe-making,  tailoring,  weaving, 
book-binding,  astronomical,  mathematical,  and  musical 
instrument  making,  are  among  the  trades  taught  there  to 
one  hundred  and  thirty  boys,  who  spend  two  hours  in 
the  workshop  and  the  remainder  at  their  books."  The 
boys  pay  about  one  franc  a  day  for  board,  lodging,  and 
instruction,  and  those  who  are  unable  to  pay  the  whole 
amount  are  assisted  out  of  a  fund  created  for  that  purpose 
from  the  donations  of  the  charitable  and  the  well-wishers 
of  the  institution. 

The  course  comprises  three  years,  and  the  schooling  is 
not  only  as  good  as  in  other  schools,  but  at  the  end  they 
are  well  qualified  for  some  useful  occupation.  The  pupils 
work  from  drawings,  which  are  mostly  prepared  by  them- 


16     EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

selves ;  for  all  learn  drawing  and  modeling,  and  all  indus- 
trial instruction  is  given  by  practical  workmen  in  charge 
of  the  shops.  Lessons  and  manual  occupations  alternate 
morning  and  afternoon.  During  the  third  year  each  pu- 
pil settles  down  to  the  particular  pursuit  he  most  fancies 
or  which  is  best  adaj)ted  to  his  talents.  In  speaking  of 
the  result  the  director  observes  :  "  Our  apprentices,  being 
at  once  tit  for  useful  work  on  entering  the  employment, 
are  less  often  employed  to  run  errands,  they  are  better 
treated,  and  steadier.  I  could  tell  you  of  young  lads  of 
fifteen  who  are  actually  earning  two  francs  and  a  half  and 
two  francs  and  seventy-five  centimes  a  day,  and  who  in 
six  months  more  will  be  paid  as  regular  workmen." 

One  of  the  British  artisans  described  his  visit  to  this 
school  as  a  "  grand  treat." 

Another  peculiar  development  is  the  interest  mani- 
fested by  large  business  companies  in  the  subject  of 
industrial  education.  Some  of  the  finest  schools  are 
attached  to  these  establishments.  Such  is  the  Ecole  Pro- 
fessionnelle  in  the  printing-house  of  Messieurs  Chaix  et 
Compagnie,  in  Paris.  Two  hours  a  day  are  allotted  to  les- 
sons in  the  school-room,  which  is  contiguous  to  the  work- 
shop. The  teaching  comprises  a  special  primary  course  for 
those  whose  schooling  has  been  insufficient ;  a  technical 
course,  including  grammar  and  composition,  reading  of 
proofs,  the  study  of  types,  engraving,  and  the  reading  and 
composing  of  English,  German,  Latin,  and  Greek,  as  far  as 
to  qualify  for  type-setting,  and  a  variety  of  other  studies 
chiefly  having  a  bearing  upon  the  business  of  printing. 
The  course  lasts  four  years,  and  the  apprentices  receive 
wages  according  to  the  work  performed.  At  the  end  of 
the  apprenticeship  the  pupils  elect,  almost  without  excep- 


M.  CHAIX'S  SCHOOL  FOR  ArPRENTICES.  17 

tion,  to  become  employes  of  the  firm,  and  enter  at  once 
into  the  rank  of  participants  in  the  yearly  division  of 
the  profits.  Says  the  writer  from  whom  these  facts  are 
taken  :  "  The  financial  results  of  these  arrangements,  at 
once  educational  and  prudential  in  their  nature,  are  most 
encouraging.  M.  Berger,  the  accomplished  inspector  of 
this  department  of  the  enterprise,  attributes  the  substan- 
tial growth  and  prosperity  of  the  business,  now  one  of  the 
largest  and  wealthiest  in  France,  as  much  to  that  influ- 
ence as  to  any  other.  He  prides  himself  upon  the  superior 
intelligence  of  his  pupils  and  their  technical  knowledge, 
gained  while  they  are  in  the  very  midst  of  a  great  busi- 
ness, and  thus  forced  to  keep  au  courant  with  commercial 
exigencies.  The  few  who  have  gone  out  to  take  places 
elsewhere  are  also  doing  well." 

Aside  from  the  technical  and  professional  training 
afforded  by  the  schools,  there  are  certain  marked  features 
in  the  establishment  which  give  it  the  air  of  a  brother- 
hood. The  employes  and  apprentices  are  organized  into 
several  institutions,  forming  a  system  of  mutual  benefit  to 
promote  the  interest  and  welfare  of  all.  Some  of  these 
funds  are  contributed  by  members  themselves,  others  by 
assessments  upon  the  profits  of  the  business,  and  still 
others  by  the  voluntary  gifts  made  each  3^ear  by  M. 
Chaix  for  the  benefit  of  the  apprentices.  There  are  also 
savings-funds  and  accidental  and  life  insurance  funds  for 
the  benefit  of  the  workmen.  Messieurs  Chaix  et  Com- 
pagnie  cherish  feelings  of  active  personal  interest  in  their 
employes,  and  cultivate  a  fraternal  relation  with  them  in 
all  their  intercourse  and  dealings.  And  the  great  suc- 
cess which  has  marked  their  business  career  points  in  more 
ways  than  one  to  the  legitimate  connection  between  capi- 


18     EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

tal  and  labor,  and  shows  what  may  be  accomplished  by 
kindly  offices  and  mutual  benefactions. 

There  is  another  eminent  example  of  a  school  found- 
ed by  a  business  company  for  the  technical  instniction 
of  their  woikmen,  at  Creuzot,  where  the  most  impor- 
tant iron-works  in  France  are  located.  Previous  to  the 
year  1836  it  was  a  miserable,  poverty-stricken  village  of 
about  2,700  inhabitants,  and  so  hopeless  was  the  business 
that  for  several  years  it  had  been  almost  abandoned.  At 
that  time  the  place  became  the  property  of  Messieurs 
Schneider,  to  whom  the  works  still  belong,  with  some 
oiher  partners  of  limited  liability.  In  1867  the  place 
was  visited  by  Mr.  Bernhard  Samuelson,  of  England, 
then  a  member  of  Parliament,  and  his  description  of  it 
has  been  transcribed  by  Mr.  Stetson  in  his  book  on  tech- 
nical education.  It  exhibits  the  very  wonderful  results 
which  have  been  achieved  by  organization  and  the  schools 
established  by  the  company  for  the  instruction  of  their 
workmen.  The  course  consists  of  a  number  of  elementary 
studies,  with  others,  such  as  natural  philosophy,  the  chem- 
istry of  metals,  mechanical  and  free-hand  drawing,  and 
modeling.  The  most  promising  boys  are  sent  to  the 
higher  technical  schools,  and  they  return  to  fill  the  re- 
sponsible positions  in  the  management  of  the  extensive 
business.  The  other  boys  are  drafted  from  the  school 
into  the  works,  and  are  placed  there  strictly  according  to 
the  capacity  which  they  have  shown  at  school,  some  as 
simple  workmen,  others  as  accountants  and  draughtsmen. 
Of  late  years  the  pupils  from  the  Ecole  des  Arts  et 
Metiers  have  been  appointed  to  teach  special  classes  in 
matters  bearing  directly  upon  the  occupation  of  the  work- 
men, and  including,  as  one  of  the  most  important,  a  com- 


SPECIAL  SCHOOLS  AT   CREUZOT   AND   NEUWELT.        19 

plete  course  of  machine-drawing ;  and  there  is  not  a  man 
among  the  mechanics  employed  in  the  construction  of 
engines  who  could  not  make  an  accurate  drawing  of  the 
work  on  which  he  is  engaged.  Under  these  influences 
the  little  village  has  become  a  well-built  and  well-paved 
town,  with  its  churches,  its  schools,  its  markets,  its  gas  and 
water  works,  and  twenty-four  thousand  well-fed,  well-edu- 
cated, and  decently-clad  people.  And  in  this  connection  I 
can  not  omit  mentioning,  although  they  are  not  in  France, 
the  celebrated  workshops  of  Count  Ilasrach,  upon  his  es- 
tates at  Neuwelt,  in  Austro-IIungary,  for  the  manufacture 
of  artistic  glassware.  Every  workman  in  his  factories  has 
received  a  special  training  for  his  occupation,  and  has 
even  enjoyed  a  preliminary  course  of  travel  over  the 
Continent,  to  visit  other  works  of  the  same  kind,  so  as 
to  expand  and  instruct  his  mind  before  commencing  the 
practical  business  of  life.  These  causes  have  resulted  in 
the  highest  state  of  perfection  to  which  the  processes  of 
enameling,  painting,  embossing,  and  engraving  on  glass 
have  been  brought.  The  works  were  properly  repre- 
sented at  the  International  Exhibition  in  the  city  of  Mel- 
bourne, where  it  is  reported  that  the  exhibit  included  the 
rich  ruby  and  the  delicate  amber  glass,  the  malachite, 
the  frosted,  and  the  granulated  gold  or  rainbow  glass, 
as  also  that  which  is  crackled  by  plunging  the  vessel, 
when  it  has  reached  a  certain  temperature,  into  ice-cold 
water  and  then  replacing  it  in  the  furnace ;  the  alter- 
nate expansion  and  contraction  to  which  it  is  thus  ex- 
posed giving  it  the  appearance  from  which  it  derives 
its  name.  Drinking-cups  of  green  enameled  glass,  of 
mediaeval  designs  ;  vases  decorated  with  pictures  of  ex- 
quisite finish,  worthy  of  the  pencil  of  Watteau ;    others 


20    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

covered  with  a  white  enamel,  and  others  still  ornamented 
in  sunk  silver,  were  all  conspicuous  for  their  beaut j  and 
splendid  finish.  Here  is  another  example  of  an  individ- 
ual actuated  by  the  laudable  ambition  of  providing  re- 
munerative and  skilled  employment  for  the  people  on  his 
estates,  and  to  perfect  and  improve  a  beautiful  branch  of 
art  industry,  and  who  has  devoted  himself  to  both  objects 
with  the  grandest  results. 

The  Power-Loom  "Weaving  School,  at  Mul house,  dif- 
fers from  any  of  those  already  mentioned  in  this,  that  it 
was  founded  by  those  engaged  in  a  particular  branch  of 
industry',  by  the  manufacturers  as  a  class  of  that  place,  in 
order  to  provide  intelligent  workmen,  and  to  promote 
the  peculiar  industry  of  Mulhouse,  and  to  enable  those 
engaged  in  it  to  produce  better  textile  fabrics  than  could 
possibly  be  done  by  ignorant  workmen.  The  beneficial 
results  were  acknowledged  far  beyond  the  limits  of  that 
town,  for  they  have  been  of  immense  value  to  that  in- 
dustr}'  throughout  the  whole  province  of  Alsace.  The 
school  was  suspended  by  the  Franco-German  War.  The 
Industrial  School  at  Epinal  was  founded  in  1871,  to  sup- 
ply the  place  of  the  one  at  Mulhouse,  with  a  similar  system 
of  instruction,  except  that  perhaps  it  is  of  a  still  higher 
grade.  The  students'  work  will  compare  favorably  with 
that  performed  in  the  great  schools  of  arts  and  trades. 
Mulhouse  is  famous  for  its  fine  muslins  and  cotton  prints, 
of  which  a  greater  quantity  is  made  here  than  in  any 
other  place.  Its  manufacturers  excel  in  the  processes 
of  dj'eing  cloth.  The  best  means  of  extracting  the  or- 
ganic colors  for  the  practical  use  of  the  printer  have  been 
discovered  by  the  accurate  investigation  of  each  distinct 
coloring-matter   separately.      This   indispensable  knowl- 


STATE  SCHOOL  AT   LIMOGES.  21 

edge  lias  been  furnished  by  the  practical  chemists  who 
are  constantly  employed  by  the  manufacturers ;  and  the 
most  effective  manner  of  applying  them  to  textile  fabrics 
in  the  form  of  attractive  patterns  is  by  the  rules  incul- 
cated in  the  school  of  design  which  still  belongs  to  the 
"  Society  of  Industry." 

The  Government  of  France  recognizes  the  vast  im- 
portance of  exteiiding  its  assistance  to  schools  for  the 
technical  instruction  of  her  youth.  A  conspicuous  evi- 
dence of  this  has  recently  been  given  by  a  decree  relating 
to  the  technical  school  at  Limoges,  by  which  it  became 
a  state  institution.  In  ancient  times  Limoges  was  re- 
nowned for  its  works  in  enamel,  of  which  many  choice 
examples  are  still  found  in  the  ceramic  collections  of 
Europe ;  and  it  is  a  recommendation  of  a  modern  design 
to  say  that  it  is  after  the  style  of  the  old  Limoges  enamel. 
The  town  suffered  greatly  from  the  decay  of  this  indus- 
try, for  it  almost  completely  run  out.  In  1766  kaolin 
was  discovered  near  Limoges  in  great  abundance  and  of 
excellent  quality.  Porcelain-works  M'ere  established,  and 
the  place  is  now  the  center  of  that  industry  in  France. 
In  1862  the  school,  which  has  just  been  adopted  by  the 
Government,  was  founded  by  Adrien  Dubouche.  Con- 
vinced of  the  vital  importance  for  a  special  training  of 
the  young  who  were  to  work  at  the  trades  of  the  place, 
he  established  the  school  out  of  his  own  means  and  by 
the  aid  of  the  municipality,  from  whom  he  obtained  a 
small  subvention.  He  also  established  free  town  schools 
to  teach  the  fine  arts,  as  applied  to  the  industrial  arts,  and 
gave  them  his  personal  attention  and  supervision.  Ow- 
ing to  these  causes,  Limoges  has  again,  become  a  great 
seat  of  art-industry.     Immense  establishments  in  porce- 


22    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

lain  manufacture  have  grown  up,  and  poverty  and  drunk- 
enness have  disappeared.  This  town  was  the  birthplace 
of  many  great  men,  of  whom  the  chief  are  Pope  Clem- 
ent YI,  the  Chancellor  d'Agnesseau,  Yergniaud,  Marshal 
Jourdan,  and  others ;  but  none  of  them  all  deserves  a 
monument  to  his  memory  more  than  the  industrial  phi- 
lanthropist Adrien  Dubouche. 

By  the  governmental  decree,  it  is  reorganized  under 
the  title  of  Ecole  Rationale  d'Art  Decoratif  a  Limoges, 
for  the  purpose  of  training  boys  and  girls — for  it  is  open 
to  both  alike — as  teachers  of  drawing,  and  for  the  exercise 
of  trades  connected  w^ith  art.  It  provides  instruction 
specially  appropriate  to  the  trades  chosen  by  the  pupils. 
Besides  several  general  studies,  there  are  also  special 
courses  for  different  applications  of  drawing  for  trade 
purposes,  pottery,  enameling,  and  engraving.  Provision 
is  made  for  prizes,  scholarships,  and  examinations.  The 
boys,  on  entering,  must  be  over  thirteen  years  of  age, 
and  the  jjirls  over  tw^elve.     Tuition  is  free. 

Among  the  examples  which  the  French  Government 
has  given  of  its  interest  in  the  technical  education  of  the 
people,  the  Ecole  des  Arts  ct  Metiers  is  j^erhaps  the 
most  remarkable.  I  transcribe  a  small  portion  of  the  re- 
port made  concerning  these  celebrated  schools  by  Joshua 
L.  Chamberlain,  one  of  the  commission  from  the  United 
States  to  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1878,  upon  the  subject 
of  education.     I  select  the  following  only  : 

It  was  the  Convention  in  1784:  which  decreed  that 
there  should  be  formed  in  Paris,  under  the  name  of  the 
Conservatory  of  Arts  and  Trades,  a  public  depot  of  ma- 
chines, models,  tools,  drawings,  descriptions,  and  books 
upon  all  arts  and  trades,  the  construction  and  employment 


l^COLE  DES  ARTS  ET  METIERS.  23 

of  which  should  be  explained  by  three  demonstrators  and 
a  draughtsman  attached  to  the  establishment.  The  end 
proposed  by  the  founders  was  the  practical  instruction  of 
workmen.  Their  motto  was,  "  They  must  be  made  to  see 
rather  than  to  speak."  Four  years  later  an  ancient  priory 
was  opened  for  this  great  work.  Such  was  the  beginning 
of  an  institution  which  has  engaged  the  interest  of  some 
of  the  greatest  men  of  France,  and  which  has  rendered 
so  great  service  to  industry  in  illustrating  and  explaining 
the  applications  of  science  to  the  arts.  It  has  to-day  a 
costly  library  of  24,000  volumes  relating  to  science,  art, 
and  industry,  installed  in  the  ancient  refectory,  now  splen- 
didly restored,  and  which  disputes  with  Sainte-Chapelle 
the  distinction  of  being  the  most  elegant  and  graceful 
monument  of  Gothic  architecture  which  exists  in  France. 
The  Conservatoire  has  a  collection  of  objects  approjjriate 
to  its  design,  the  mere  titles  of  which  till  a  volume  of 
four  hundred  closely-printed  pages.  At  present  there  are 
fourteen  chairs  of  instruction.  It  may  be  well  to  give 
their  designations,  and  the  names  of  the  professors  occu- 
pying them : 

Geometry  applied  to  the  Arts. — Colonel  Laussedat. 

Descriptive  Geometry. — De  la  Gournerie. 

Mechanics  applied  to  the  Arts. — Tresca. 

Civil  Construction . — Trelat. 

Physics  applied  to  the  Arts. — Becquerel. 

General  Chemistry  in  its  Relation  to  Industry. — 
Peligot. 

Industrial  Chemistry. — Gerard. 

Chemistry  applied  to  the  Industries  of  Dyeing^  Ce- 
ramics.^ and  Glass-working. — De  Luynes. 

Agricultural  aiid  Analytical  Chemistry. — Bousin- 
gault  and  Schloessing. 

Arch  itecture. — Moll. 

Agricultural  Woi^Jcs  and  Rural  Engineering. — Man- 

Spinning  and  Weaving. — Alcan. 
Political  Economy  and  Statistics. — Burat. 


24    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

The  course  of  instruction  is  not  unlike  that  at  the 
Sorbonne,  the  College  of  France,  and  the  Museum  of  Nat- 
ural History.  The  lectures  are  public  and  free  to  all,  for- 
eigners and  citizens  alike.  It  is  a  deeply  interesting  scene 
for  an  American  to  sit  amid  that  motley  auditory,  some- 
times numbering  nearly  a  thousand,  all  listening  intently 
to  the  masterly  yet  simple  expositions  of  men  like  Bec- 
querel,  Burat,  Gerard,  and  Levasseur,  of  all  conditions 
and  ages,  from  the  boy  of  twelve,  first  waking  to  the 
thought  of  the  possibilities  in  the  great  world  before 
him,  to  the  dim-eyed  sire  of  eighty  years,  now  at  last 
realizing  what  might  have  been.  There  are  as  many  as 
160,000  of  these  auditors  each  year. 

The  schools  of  arts  and  trades  are  designed  to  train 
superintendents  and  foremen  of  workshops  and  well-in- 
structed and  skillful  artisans  in  the  working  of  iron  and 
wood.  There  are  three  of  these  in  France — at  Chalon- 
sur-Marne,  at  Angers,  and  at  Aix.  There  are  at  each  of 
these  three  hundred  pupils,  admitted  upon  competitive 
examinations.  They  are  between  the  ages  of  fifteen  and 
seventeen  years.  These  pupils  live  in  the  school-build- 
ing. 

The  course  of  study  extends  through  three  years. 
The  theoretical  teaching  comprises  arithmetic,  geometry, 
elementary  algebra,  rectilinear  trigonometry,  descriptive 
geometry,  mechanics,  physics  and  chemistry,  drawing, 
geography,  grammar,  and  accounts.  Seven  hours  of  labor 
a  day  are  devoted  to  practical  instruction  given  in  four 
workshops — carpentry  and  modeling,  foundry,  forging, 
and  adjusting.  Diplomas  and  silver  medals  certify  to  the 
aptitudes  of  the  pupils,  and  serve  as  recompense  at  the  end 
of  the  course. 

The  exhibits  of  these  three  schools  attracted  con- 
siderable interest.  Steam-engines  of  various  sorts,  ma- 
chines for  use  in  wood  and  iron  work,  showed  the 
theoretical  and  practical  mastery  attained  by  the  pupils. 
The  drawings  and  other  exercises  were  also  highly  cred- 
itable. 


GOVERNMENT   AID   IN   FRANCE.  25 

From  this  brief  sketch  we  may  learn  the  immense 
weight  which  the  French  Government  and  people  attach 
to  the  subject  of  industrial  education,  and  the  thorough 
and  splendid  manner  in  which  they  treat  it. 

It  is  noticeable  that  Government  aid  to  art  education 
is  never  contested  in  France,  and  it  has  always  played  a 
considerable  part  in  the  technical  instruction  of  the  work- 
ing-people. The  question  is  regarded  as  one  of  public 
interest,  and  the  current  administration  might  as  well 
abdicate  its  power  as  to  ignore  its  responsibility  for  the 
support  of  art-schools.  Governments  have  succeeded 
each  other  pretty  often  in  France,  but  these  ideas  and 
purposes  have  survived  their  successive  falls ;  and  each 
in  its  turn  has  recognized  the  improvement  of  the  people 
in  the  useful  arts  as  among  the  highest  obligations  of 
executive  authority.  The  need  and  security  of  public 
assistance  is  so  well  fixed  in  the  customs  of  the  people, 
and  is  so  completely  identified  with  the  tendencies  and 
expectations  of  the  country,  that  every  Minister  of  Public 
Instruction,  from  M.  Cousin  to  M.  Jules  Ferry,  has  used 
the  most  liberal  exercise  of  his  oftice  in  its  behalf.  Like 
the  elementary  schools,  they  are  placed  under  his  author- 
ity. The  instruction  is  free  to  all,  the  law  is  equal  to  all, 
and  there  is  an  opportunity  for  any  boy  in  France,  how- 
ever poor  his  circumstances,  to  obtain  an  art-education 
which  shall  cost  him  nothing.  The  Minister  of  Public 
Instruction  is  of  high  official  importance  ;  he  is  a  member 
of  the  Cabinet ;  his  estimates  are  placed  in  the  budget, 
and,  notwithstanding  the  magnitude  of  the  other  depart- 
ments of  the  Government,  he  is  recognized  as  represent- 
ing the  most  important  interests  in  the  republic. 

"  In  every  town  of  any  importance  in  a  manufacturing 


26    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

point  of  view,  in  every  district  of  all  the  principal  cities, 
there  is  to  be  found  the  art-school,  just  as  there  is  to  be 
found  the  church  or  the  baker's  shop."  The  examples 
already  given  are  only  typical  ones,  of  which  there  are 
hundreds  besides.  All  the  elements  of  society  conceive 
themselves  equally  interested  in  this  preparation  of  the 
rising  generations.  Need  we  be  astonished  at  the  perfec- 
tion of  art-industry  in  France  ?  The  explanation  is  easy 
when  we  consider  the  causes  of  these  wonderful  phenom- 
ena. 

With  us,  the  idea  that  the  state  should  share  with 
society  in  the  public  instruction  of  the  useful  arts  looks 
like  an  interference  with  private  right.  Perhaps  the 
limit  of  legislative  action  is  not  easily  determined.  But 
surely,  when  the  object  is  not  in  the  interest  of  a  favored 
class,  but  to  raise  up  and  elevate  all  the  industrious 
classes  together  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  body,  it 
ought  not  to  be  regarded  by  any  sincere  friend  of  the 
race  as  an  infringement  upon  the  guarantees  of  equal 
laws.  Whether  this  is  so,  will  be  discussed  when  in  the 
course  of  this  work  the  subject  of  manual  training  in  the 
public  schools  shall  be  reached.  Meanwhile,  we  may 
learn  much  from  France,  for  the  people  there  would  hold 
the  Government  extremely  culpable  that  would  neglect 
a  duty  so  sacred. 

In  Germany  something  of  the  same  kind  had  been 
attempted,  perhaps  at  an  earlier  date  than  in  any  other 
quarter  of  Europe ;  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  the 
schools  there  for  training  workmen  are  among  the  most 
remarkable  in  Europe.  Schools  of  design,  and  polytech- 
nic and  industrial  schools,  are  as  numerous  as  any  other 
kind  of  schools.     But  the  best  German  exhibits  of  art- 


INDUSTRIAL   SCHOOLS   IN   GERMANY.  27 

schools  in  the  Paris  and  Yienna  Expositions  of  1867  and 
1873  were  those  from  Bavaria  and  Wiirtemberg. 

It  is  most  unaccountable  that  there  were  no  educa- 
tional exhibits  from  Germany  at  the  Expositions  of  1876 
and  1878.  This  is  the  more  to  be  regretted,  since  it  is 
supposed  that  she  leads  the  world  in  matters  of  education. 

The  schools  at  Nuremberg  are  characterized  by  dis- 
tinct and  peculiar  merits  which  deserve  to  be  noticed,  in- 
formation of  which  comes  from  another  source,  that  of 
the  sub-committee  of  the  French  Commission  appointed 
to  inquire  into  the  state  of  technical  instruction  in  Ger- 
many and  Switzerland,  who  say  in  their  general  report : 
"  In  this  town  (Nuremberg),  so  noted  for  its  various  man- 
ufactures, there  are  several  drawing-schools  of  different 
degrees,  according  to  the  trade  the  pupils  intend  to  fol- 
low. The  first  and  most  important  is  the  higher  school 
of  industrial  drawing,  conducted  by  M.  Kroling.  It  is 
justly  regarded  in  Germany  as  the  one  which  has  ren- 
dered most  service  to  industry";  and  after  stating  the 
method  of  teaching,  the  report  adds,  "  The  general  opin- 
ion of  the  persons  who  liave  made  a  study  of  questions 
connected  with  teaching,  not  only  in  Bavaria,  but  also  in 
other  parts  of  Germany,  is,  that  the  Nuremberg  school 
has  contributed  more  than  any  other  to  the  progress  of 
the  national  industry." 

I  transcribe  a  single  sentence  from  the  special  report 
on  Wiirtemberg :  "  There  have  been  established,  in  the 
kingdom  of  Wiirtemberg,  more  than  four  hundred  draw- 
ing-schools ;  and  this  organization,  which  does  not  date 
back  more  than  ten  years,  has  already  led  to  very  decided 
improvements  in  the  manufactures  of  the  country.  It  is 
satisfactory  to  know  that  the  designers  trained  in  these 


28    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

schools,  if  the  J  evince  any  considerable  degree  of  taste 
and  invention,  easily  find  occupation  in  their  own  coun- 
try. The  more  distinguished  of  them  are  sometimes  sent 
to  France  for  improvement.  .  .  .  They "  (the  schools) 
"  were  founded  after  the  Universal  Exhibition  of  1851,  to 
enable  the  manufacturers  of  the  country  to  comjDete  with 
France  in  the  industrial  arts." 

Industrial  schools  in  Austria  and  Hungary  have  kept 
pace  with  those  of  other  countries.  They  are  very  nu- 
merous in  Switzerland,  and  have  been  introduced  in  Italy, 
Sweden,  Denmark,  the  Netherlands,  and  even  Spain,  as 
a  systematic  part  of  public  instruction. 

We  conclude  this  chapter  by  saying  that  we  shall 
return  to  the  subject  of  industrial  education  in  Europe 
in  one  or  two  of  the  chapters  following. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Industrial  Education  in  Russia — The  Practical  Technological  Institute  at 
St.  Petersburg — The  Imperial  Technical  School  at  Moscow — Exhibits 
of,  at  the  Exposition  of  1876  and  1878 — Moscow  fitly  chosen — Two 
other  schools  for  teaching  trades  to  boys — Movement  in  England — 
Continental  artisans — British  artisans  at  Paris  Exposition,  1867 — 
Schools  of  art-instruction — South  Kensington  Museum — Walter  Smith 
— French  and  English  methods  compared — Spread  of  art-schools  in 
the  United  Kingdom — Their  effect  upon  industries  requiring  art — 
Comparison  of  art-products — The  leading  nation  in  the  industries 
depending  upon  art — Advantages  stated — The  favorable  effect  upon 
the  artisan — Favorable  to  morality — The  problem  abroad. 

I  DO  not  pretend  to  any  special  knowledge  upon  the 
subject  of  industrial  education  in  Russia,  aside  from  what 
may  be  learned  by  any  one  who  will  take  the  trouble  to 
read  the  general  report  of  Governor  John  W.  Hoyt,  one 
of  the  commissioners  of  the  United  States  to  the  Centen- 
nial Exhibition  of  1876  (Vol.  YIII,  page  165).  The 
Russian  educational  exhibit  is  referred  to  in  that  report 
with  a  fullness  of  description  quite  justified  by  the  very 
interesting  character  of  the  movement  in  that  empire  for 
technical  and  practical  education  combined.  The  Russian 
publications  and  circulars  elucidative  of  the  system  are 
set  forth,  and  certainly  constitute  a  chapter  in  the  history 
of  practical  instruction  which  must  have  a  marked  effect, 
not  only  upon  Russia,  but  in  every  other  country  where 


30    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

professional  and  technical  schools  exist.  Indeed,  the 
commissioner  closes  one  part  of  his  report  with  the  re- 
mark that  "  what  Kussia  has  done  for  technical  educa- 
tion at  the  Philadelphia  Exhibition  no  man  may  now 
estimate.  It  is  certain  that  the  service  was  very  great, 
and  has  earned  for  her  the  gratitude  of  all  who  are  at 
work  upon  its  problems,  whether  in  the  Old  or  New 
World." 

Much  useful  information  is  furnished  in  the  report  in 
regard  to  the  Strongonoff  Central  School  of  Practical 
Drawing,  and  the  Pedagogic  Museum  at  St.  Petersburg, 
both  of  wdiich  are  important  auxiliaries  in  the  develop- 
ment of  industrial  studies.  The  institutions,  however, 
that  come  nearest  to  the  subject  of  this  work  are  the 
Practical  Technological  Institute  at  St.  Petersburg  and 
the  Imperial  Technical  School  at  Moscow.  It  is  only- 
after  having  observed  and  studied  their  exhibit  w^ith  great 
and  scrupulous  care  that  the  commissioner  analyzes  and 
comments  upon  them  as  perhaps  the  most  admirable 
agencies  yet  employed  upon  the  problem  of  industrial 
education.  Owing  to  the  backward  condition  of  Russia, 
it  is  difficult  to  obtain  reliable  statistics,  and  it  is  most 
fortunate  that  such  a  competent  and  disinterested  ob- 
server as  Governor  Hoyt  had  an  opportunity  to  see  and 
hear  for  himself  to  the  minutest  and  most  complete  de- 
tail. But  our  space  limits  us  to  a  statement  of  some 
of  the  principal  facts  only,  and  the  impressions  which 
they  suggest.  The  two  technical  schools  are  founded 
nearly  upon  the  same  principles.  Before  entering  the 
institute  at  St.  Petersburg,  the  candidate  must  have 
graduated  from  one  of  the  middle  schools,  and  must 
pass  a  competitive  examination.     TJiere  are  two  depart- 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION   IN  RUSSIA.  31 

ments,  mechanical  and  cliemical.  In  the  mechanical 
department  the  course  includes  a  variety  of  studies  liaving 
relation  to  applied  mechanics,  the  art  of  construction,  and 
mechanical  drawing,  and  a  part  of  the  time  is  employed 
by  the  students  at  manual  labor  in  various  workshops  and 
mills  belonging  to  the  institute. 

The  system  is  as  follows  :  "  The  practical  studies  are 
divided  into  three  courses.  In  the  first  course  the  student 
works  with  a  chisel  and  file  upon  cast  iron,  performing 
six  consecutive  studies ;  in  the  second  course  the  students 
begin  upon  wrought  iron,  fulfilling  nineteen  consecutive 
tasks ;  thereafter  they  are  removed  to  the  fitting-shops, 
where  they  are  obliged  to  perform  fifteen  tasks,  occupy- 
ing themselves  with  turning,  cutting  screw-threads,  and 
soldering.  The  last  course  is  in  the  construction  and 
joining  of  different  engines."  During  the  five  years  of 
the  course  of  study,  six  hundred  and  forty-eight  hours 
are  devoted  to  manual  labor  in  the  workshops.  Of  these 
there  are  four  :  "  The  filer's  shop  with  sixty  places,  each 
fitted  with  a  vise  and  the  necessary  tools  for  the  filer's 
course ;  the  forging-shop,  with  ten  places ;  the  turning- 
shop,  with  sixteen  places ;  and  the  construction-shop.  In 
the  first  three  the  students  work  in  alternating  sections 
until  they  have  completed  the  obligatory  courses." 

In  these  shops  the  students,  under  the  management 
of  experienced  masters,  begin  to  exercise  in  the  most 
simple  works,  gradually  passing  to  more  complicated,  and 
at  last  finishing  with  constructions  and  joinery  of  all  the 
parts  of  an  engine.  Finally,  they  graduate  either  as  en- 
gineers for  workshops  or  for  railroads,  and  their  prac- 
tical teaching  has  made  them  skilled  workmen  in  the  use 
of  a  great  variety  of  tools. 


32     EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

In  some  of  its  leading  features  the  Imperial  Technical 
School  at  Moscow  is  not  unlike  the  Free  Institute  in  this 
country  at  AVorcester,  and  the  Manual  Training  School 
of  the  Washington  University  at  St.  Louis.  It  has,  for 
instance,  a  special  division  divided  into  three  branches : 
mechanical  construction,  mechanical  engineering,  and 
technological  engineering ;  and,  in  connection  with  these, 
all  the  sciences  are  taught  which  are  considered  funda- 
mental or  collateral  to  any  given  branch  in  the  course, 
and  the  students  of  all  the  classes  are  occupied  during  a 
stated  period  of  time  in  practical  work  in  the  laboratories 
and  mechanical  workshops.  These  shops  are  under  the 
management  of  a  technologist  or  skilled  workman,  whose 
duty  it  is  to  instruct  the  pupils  in  the  rudiments  of  me- 
chanical labor,  so  that  in  the  first  place  they  become 
acquainted  with  all  the  work  of  mechanical  art,  namely, 
turning,  fitting,  carpentering,  and  forging,  in  the  school 
workshops,  and  they  are  then  deemed  qualified  to  be  ad- 
mitted to  what  are  called  the  mechanical  works.  These 
latter  are  distinct  from  the  school  workshops,  for  they  are 
placed  upon  a  commercial  footing  with  hired  workmen, 
accepting  and  carrying  out  orders  from  private  individ- 
uals for  the  construction  of  steam-engines,  working-en- 
gines, pumps,  motors,  agricultural  machines,  etc.  It  will 
be  seen,  therefore,  that  while  the  school  workshops  are 
designed  to  impart  manual  knowledge  and  dexterity,  the 
mechanical  works  are  for  the  education  of  young  men  in 
the  branches  of  mechanical  engineering  and  mechanical 
construction  of  the  highest  order.  The  object  of  sepa- 
rating the  school  workshop  from  the  mechanical  works 
was  to  secure  the  systematic  teaching  of  elementary  prac- 
tical  work,  and  to  admit  the  pupils  only  to  the  latter  when 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  IN  RUSSIA.  33 

they  have  perfectly  acquired  the  principles  and  habits  of 
practical  labor.  In  the  workshops  the  pupils  learnt  the 
use  of  tools  which  the  common  and  otherwise  uneducated 
class  of  work-people  may  be  expected  to  possess,  but  a 
practical  knowledge  of  which  is  quite  indispensable  at 
this  moment  to  the  educated  technologist.  Acting,  there- 
fore, upon  the  principle  that  mechanical  engineers  and  con- 
structors should  have  a  practical  experience  in  the  me- 
chanical arts,  the  Imperial  Technical  School  has  employed 
the  separation  of  work  and  the  graduation  of  studies  in 
such  manner  as  will  best  secure  a  solution  of  the  difficulty 
in  the  best  possible  manner  and  in  the  shortest  space  of 
time.  The  director,  from  whose  circular  these  facts  are 
gathered,  concludes  his  elaborate  statement  by  observing 
that  "  eight  years  have  already  elapsed  (1876)  since  the 
programmes  of  instruction  in  the  mechanic  arts  were  in- 
troduced into  the  workshops  of  the  school,  and  they  have 
been  found  to  attain  in  the  most  brilliant  manner  the  aim 
proposed  in  their  introduction." 

In  order  to  show  the  methods  employed  in  the  school 
at  Moscow,  as  well  as  the  completeness  of  its  exhibit  at 
the  Centennial,  the  commissioner  has  added  a  synoptical 
statement  of  its  samples  and  tools,  which  alone  occupy 
nearly  six  closely-printed  pages  of  the  report. 

In  the  year  1870,  at  the  exhibition  of  manufactures  at 
St.  Petersburg,  this  school  first  exhibited  its  methods  of 
teaching  mechanical  arts ;  and  from  that  time  they  have 
been  introduced  into  all  the  technical  schools  of  Russia, 
which  are  on  the  increase  and  now  exist  in  nearly  all  the 
principal  centers  and  cities  of  the  empire,  affording  edu- 
cational facilities  in  matters  of  useful  art  on  quite  an  ex- 
tensive scale. 


34  EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

In  a  country  like  Russia,  which  is  so  far  behind  every 
other  European  nation  in  education  and  civilization,  and 
where  it  is  estimated  that  not  over  eight  per  cent,  of  the 
men  and  three  per  cent,  of  the  women  have  ever  had  any 
schooling,  these  institutions  at  the  two  capitals  must  exert 
a  most  beneficial  and  wide-spread  influence.  They  and 
kindred  schools  are  sending  forth  every  year  hundreds  of 
men  educated,  enlightened,  and  skilled  in  the  civilizing 
arts  of  life,  and  will  carry  with  them  the  elements  of 
civilization  in  their  highest  perfection  wherever  they  go 
in  that  vast  empire. 

There  is  a  peculiar  fitness  in  the  establishment  of  this 
noble  institution  in  the  ancient  capital  of  Russia.  Mos- 
cow still  attracts  our  sympathies.  By  historical  necessity 
it  was  the  capital,  and  by  religious  tradition  the  holy  city 
of  the  empire.  For  centuries  it  was  the  theatre  of  all  the 
calamities  resulting  from  wars,  sieges,  fire,  and  pestilence. 
The  Muscovite  princes  founded  Russia  from  the  mass  of 
barbarous  tribes,  and  created  the  splendid  reign  of  the 
Czars.  It  published  the  first  code  of  Russian  laws,  and 
introduced  the  first  attempts  at  civilization  among  the  un- 
cultivated multitude  of  its  wandering  tribes.  And,  more 
lately,  in  order  to  preserve  the  security  and  independence 
of  the  country  from  the  footstep  of  the  invader,  who  was 
already  reposing  within  the  sacred  walls  of  the  Kremlin, 
it  delivered  its  towers,  its  palaces,  its  cathedrals,  and  its 
dwellings  to  the  flames  of  a  conflagration  which  destroyed 
them  all ;  and  thus  associated  the  terrible  event  in  the 
heart  of  Europe  as  the  most  devoted  and  costly  tribute 
that  had  ever  been  placed  on  the  shrine  of  patriot- 
ism. But  by  the  foundation  of  the  Imperial  Technical 
School  she  promises  a  greater  service  than  she  has  ever 


IN   RUSSIA  AND   ENGLAND.  35 

rendered  for  tlie  cultivation  and  refinement  of  the 
people. 

Again,  at  the  Exposition  of  1878,  the  Russian  exhibit 
of  industrial  school  work  was  admitted  to  excel  all  others. 
Four  of  such  schools  were  represented,  two  of  them  being 
of  a  grade  inferior  to  those  already  described,  viz  :  the 
Alexander  Technical  School,  situated  at  Tcherepovetz ; 
and  the  School  of  Trades  of  the  Czarowitz  Nicholas,  at  St. 
Petersburg.  In  both  the  puj^ils  receive  a  general  educa- 
tion, and  the  boys  are  admitted  at  the  age  of  thirteen  and 
fourteen.  Simultaneously  with  their  general  studies  they 
are  taught  the  use  of  tools  in  several  trades,  and,  after 
having  acquired  the  requisite  proficiency  in  handling 
them,  they  make  choice  of  a  trade,  to  which  their  work- 
shop practice  is  afterward  confined. 

England  did  not  regard  with  indifference  the  effect 
produced  upon  the  manufacturing  arts  by  these  new  edu- 
cational forces.  She  plainly  foresaw  her  inability  to 
maintain  her  superiority  in  the  markets  of  the  world,  un- 
less she  also  took  steps  properly  to  instruct  those  who  were 
to  carry  on  the  great  industries  upon  which  her  welfare 
depended.  The  education  of  her  workmen  attracted  the 
attention  of  her  thoughtful  and  influential  classes,  and 
technical  schools  were  established  soon  after  the  Exposi- 
tion of  1851.  It  was  there  made  evident  that  her  manu- 
factured articles,  although  in  strength  and  solid  work- 
manship quite  equal  to  any  others  on  exhibition,  were  yet 
much  inferior  in  appearance  and  ornamental  design  when 
contrasted  with  the  finished  products  of  Fi-ench  and  Ger- 
man art.  The  Continental  artisan  is  trained  in  the  prin- 
ciple of  his  trade.  He  is  generally  able  to  prepare  his 
own  drawings  and  make  his  own  models ;  or,  if  not  suf- 


36      EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

ciently  skilled  or  ingenious  to  invent  a  beautiful  design, 
or  to  give  a  new  shape  or  configuration  to  a  manufact- 
ured article,  lie  can  at  least  decipher  it  with  a  relish  of 
its  appearance.  He  therefore  works  with  pleasure,  and 
views  the  product  of  his  labor  as  the  offspring  of  his 
skill,  and  perhaps  of  his  genius.  His  industry  is  in- 
spired by  his  enthusiasm.  From  the  mold  of  a  button 
to  the  perfection  of  a  bronze,  all  is  a  work  of  art. 

The  English  Council  of  Arts  and  Science  sent  eighty 
skilled  workmen,  representing  almost  every  industry,  to 
the  Paris  Exposition  of  1867,  and  to  visit  various  work- 
shops and  manufactories  in  France.  Each  workman,  upon 
hi3  return,  was  required  to  furnish,  and  did  furnish,  a  writ- 
ten report,  giving  the  result  of  his  observations.  A  con- 
densed statement  of  these  reports  is  given  by  C.  B.  Stet- 
son, in  his  admirable  book  on  "  Technical  Education," 
and  he  justly  declares  that  they  "  form  one  of  the  most 
valuable  contributions  to  the  industrial  literature  of  the 
day."  The  impression  was  not  favorable  to  English  art, 
but  it  gave  a  prodigious  impulse  to  industrial  education, 
and  schools  devoted  to  art-instruction  became  very  nu- 
merous. Those  at  Nottingham,  Birkenhead,  Coventry, 
the  Wedgwood  Memorial,  and  the  Burslem  School  of 
Art,  rank  perhaps  as  among  the  most  important.  But 
the  first  place  must  be  assigned  to  the  South  Kensington 
Museum,  London,  and  the  schools  attached  to  it.  Here 
are  taught  children  from  under  ten  years  of  age  in  free- 
hand drawing,  up  to  the  highest  professional  instruction 
in  every  branch  of  art.  In  the  work  on  "  Art  Education," 
by  Walter  Smith,  we  find  a  brief  account  of  this  institu- 
tion, from  which  it  appeal's  that  it  is  the  national  train- 
ing-school, from  which  most  of  the  teachers  in  the  local 


SOUTH  KENSIXGTOxV  MUSEUM,  LONDON.  37 

schools  of  art  come.  It  is  tlie  opinion  of  Mr.  Smitli  that 
there  is  no  fundamental  difference  between  the  English 
and  German  systems,  except  that  the  latter  is  the  most 
scientific  of  the  two.  The  same  stages  of  study  are  com- 
mon to  the  national  training-school  and  to  those  tlirough- 
out  England,  and  from  this  circumstance  there  is  a 
general  similiarity  in  the  works  of  all  the  schools,  and 
harmony  in  the  national  system.  This  systematizing  of 
art-study  is  made  more  certain  by  the  annual  examina- 
tions of  the  schools  in  every  grade  of  study,  with  the 
same  tests  for  each  grade  in  every  school  throughout  the 
country.  The  building  up  of  this  system  has  taken  many 
years  to  accomplish.  The  distinctive  features  of  the 
scheme  date  from  the  year  1851,  and  the  details  have 
been  wrought  out  and  consolidated  by  successful  experi- 
ment since  that  time.  The  administration  is  in  a  depart- 
ment of  the  Government,  and  thus  uniformity  of  plan  is 
secured. 

The  author  then  explains  the  agencies  employed  for 
industrial  art  education :  1.  A  museum  of  industrial 
masterpieces,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  national  collec- 
tion of  pictures.  2.  A  national  training  school  for  art- 
masters.  3.  A  traveling  museum  for  exhibition,  which 
circulates  good  specimens  of  industriiil  art  in  the  prov- 
inces, and  forms  the  nucleus  for  local  exhibitions ;  and 
also  the  circulation  of  books  and  paintings,  on  loan,  to 
provincial  schools.  4.  Examination  and  supervision  of 
all  grades  of  art-instruction  carried  on  in  connection  with 
the  national  system.  Art-instruction  is  divided  into  three 
grades,  progressing  in  difficulty,  and  called  first,  sec- 
ond, and  third  grade.  The  first  grade  of  instruction  is 
given  in  day-schools  to  children  by  teachers  holding  the 


38     EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

second-grade  certificate.  Examinations  in  this  grade  are 
conducted  in  three  subjects — free-hand,  model,  and  geo- 
metrical drawing.  The  second  grade  comprises  the  ele- 
mentary instruction  in  schools  of  art  and  night  drawing- 
classes,  and  is  the  grade  in  which  teachers  of  the  national 
or  common  schools  become  certificated.  The  subjects 
are  free- hand,  model,  geometric,  and  perspective  drawing, 
all  in  outline ;  to  which  is  added,  for  teachers,  black- 
board drawing  from  memory.  The  third  grade  consists 
of  the  highest  subjects  of  instruction  in  drawing  from 
copies,  casts,  nature,  and  original  design ;  painting,  mod- 
eling, architecture,  drawing  and  design,  and  mechanical 
and  machine  drawing  from  copies  and  models,  which 
form  the  studies  in  schools  of  art ;  and  the  masters  or 
mistresses  of  such  schools  have  to  become  certificated  in 
this  grade  before  the  Government  recognizes  them  as 
art  masters  or  mistresses.  The  drawings  are  sent  to 
London  for  examination,  exhibition,  and  rewards.  The 
studies  are  twenty-three  in  number ;  and  the  certificates 
are  awarded  after  an  examination  at  the  close  of  the  win- 
ter session. 

After  noticing  the  effects  of  this  system,  Mr.  Smith 
reasons  that,  as  a  scheme  of  art-education,  comprehending 
all  the  necessities,  whether  of  the  child,  the  artisan,  or 
the  art-student,  the  English  must  be  acknowledged  to  be 
more  thoroughly  adapted  to  the  general  wants  of  all 
grades  of  society  than  any  other ;  because  it  has  more 
scope,  is  progressive  in  its  grades  of  instruction,  and  pro- 
vides, what  no  other  national  system  does  so  thoroughly, 
for  the  professional  education  and  examination  of  the  art- 
masters  who  are  to  carry  it  out;  and  he  concludes  by  ob- 
serving :  "  I  have  spoken  more  fully  on  the  scheme  of 


WALTER  SMITH'S  VIEWS.  39 

art-education  originating  in  England  than  I  should  have 
done  otherwise,  because  its  recent  success,  both  in  com- 
mon-school instruction  and  influence  upon  manufacturing 
industry,  has  drawn  the  attention  of  the  whole  world  to 
its  organization  and  system ;  and  also  because  I  have  no- 
ticed that  theorists,  who  know  little  or  nothing  of  either 
plan  (English  or  French)  practically,  are  in  the  habit  of 
comparing  French  and  English  methods,  to  the  great  dis- 
advantage of  the  latter.  Now,  I  entirely  disagree  with 
that  view,  and  hope  that  I  can  judge  impartially  of  the 
two,  not  blinded  by  national  prejudice,  but  as  a  prac- 
tical educator,  having  already  written,  perhaps,  more  in 
favor  of  French  art-education  than  any  other  English- 
man ;  and  I  contend  that,  in  this  subject,  as  in  all  others, 
before  any  person  is  competent  to  discriminate  the  good 
points  of  both  systems  he  must  be  familiar  with  both,  in 
the  class-room  and  lecture-room — not  for  a  day  or  year, 
but  for  many  year? — and  see  the  effects  upon  many  stu- 
dents through  a  whole  course  of  study.  This  has  been  my 
experience.  When  I  say  also  that  a  better  scheme  than 
either  can,  I  believe,  be  developed  in  this  country,  it  will 
be  seen  that,  while  I  have  more  faith  in  the  English  than 
the  French  system,  I  hope  that  the  American  will  be  the 
best  of  all.  Still,  it  must  be  remembered  that  we  are,  in 
this  country,  only  buckling  on  oar  armor,  and  must  not 
boast  as  those  who  are  taking  it  off." 

The  progress  of  these  schools,  in  elevating  the  taste  in 
art-industry  and  enhancing  the  standard  of  industrial 
products,  has  been  more  marked  on  the  British  Isles  than 
in  any  other  state  of  Europe.  The  technical  or  science 
schools  and  the  schools  of  art  in  the  United  Kingdom  ex- 
ceed in  number  those  of  any  other  country.     Some  of 


40     EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

them  are  private  institutions,  some  are  endowed  and  en- 
tirely free,  and  many  of  them  receive  assistance  from  the 
Government  or  from  the  community  in  their  neighbor- 
hood. They  each  have  from  four  to  six  classes  in  indus- 
trial art,  and  many  of  these  are  night-classes,  to  accom- 
modate those  who  cannot  attend  during  the  day.  The 
teachers  come  mostly  from  the  National  Training  School 
at  South  Kensington.  The  number  of  schools  may  be 
estimated  at  several  thousand,  representing  every  branch 
of  industry,  art,  and  applied  science. 

The  magnificent  work  accomplished  by  these  institu- 
tions has  been  most  beneficial  upon  the  great  interests  of 
the  British  Empire,  since  to  this  cause  may  be  ascribed 
her  rapid  progress  in  the  art  of  improvement  of  domestic 
manufactures,  by  which  she  furnishes  not  only  the  cheap- 
est and  best  goods,  but  those  which  are  attractive  and 
salable  by  their  style  and  appearance,  thus  maintaining 
her  enormous  commercial  industry  without  a  parallel 
among  foreign  nations.  Mr.  Nichols  exhibits  the  statis- 
tics showing  the  increase  of  art-productions  in  Britain 
over  those  in  France  of  late  years  before  he  published  his 
book.  From  1847  to  1856  it  appears  that  thirty-five  per 
cent,  of  the  French  exportations  were  of  art-industry,  and 
from  1856  to  1868  they  scarcely  amounted  to  sixteen  per 
cent.,  a  decrease  in  twelve  years  of  more  than  one-half. 
Now,  during  the  first  period  France  was  nearly  ten  per 
cent,  ahead  of  Great  Britain,  but  during  the  second  period, 
that  is,  from  1856  to  1868,  the  export  of  British  products 
in  which  art  was  required  exceeded  in  value  those  of 
France  505,000,000  francs,  and  with  a  greatly  increased 
value  in  her  total  exportations  her  art-products  were 
twelve  per  cent,  more  than  those  of  France.     In  other 


PROGRESS  OF  ART-INDUSTRY   IN   ENGLAND.  41 

words,  while  this  kind  of  industry  had  increased  in  Great 
Britain  442,000,000  francs,  it  had  decreased  68,000,000 
francs  in  France.  These  figures  exemplify  in  a  striking 
manner  how  great  had  been  the  change  and  how  im- 
mense the  progress  of  the  British  Renaissance  since  the 
introduction  of  art-instruction  for  her  industries.  The 
author  observes :  "  Until  within  a  few  years,  the  supe- 
riority of  France  in  its  art-productions  was  not  doubted 
or  contested.  With  those  articles  of  industry  into  which 
art  entered  she  filled  the  markets  of  the  world.  With  a 
self-confidence  peculiar  to  her  people  she  became  careless, 
and  it  was  not  until  half  her  trade  had  escaped  her  that 
France  was  conscious  of  her  loss."  We  shall  see,  however, 
how  quick  France  was  to  act  when  she  found  her  great 
rival  taking  the  lead  of  her  where  she  supposed  herself 
perfectly  unapproachable.  Great  Britain  beheld  her  in- 
feriority to  France  and  Germany  reflected  in  the  Inter- 
national Exposition  of  1851  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  and, 
instead  of  being  dismayed,  set  about  the  most  systematic 
and  comprehensive  plan  of  art-education  the  world  ever 
witnessed.  Never  has  there  been  an  educational  enter- 
prise so  considerable  and  so  vast,  and,  from  an  intelligent 
point  of  view,  never  has  the  effort  to  instruct  an  entire 
nation,  under  similar  conditions,  been  attended  with  such 
grand  results.  The  English  were  thought  to  be  indifferent 
to  if  not  incapable  of  art  ideas,  and  that  a  long  period  of 
preparation  would  necessarily  precede  any  visible  results 
of  the  experiment.  But  the  astonishing  rapidity  with 
which  results  have  been  developed  would  almost  lead  us 
to  the  belief  that,  instead  of  being  an  inapt  race,  the 
intuitions  of  art  are  almost  spontaneous  in  their  soul,  and 
that  they  are  gifted  with  a  marvelous  dexterity  in  execut- 


42     EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

ing  them.  It  is  at  least  certain  that  this  people,  whose 
ideal  sense  was  so  underrated,  has  suddenly  been  trans- 
formed into  the  leading  nation  in  the  products  of  indus- 
try which  depend  upon  art  or  beauty.  We  cannot  ignore 
the  precision  and  grandeur  of  the  means  by  which  the 
English  nation  has  secured  her  commerce  and  her  safety. 

I  have  confined  my  attention  to  one  feature  only  in 
these  schools,  viz,  as  a  means  of  cultivating  the  mechanic 
and  useful  arts.  To  this,  however,  might  be  added  many 
other  splendid  advantages.  ]^o  one  will  deny  the  refin- 
ing influences  exerted  upon  popular  taste  by  drawing  the 
beautiful  forms  of  design,  in  contemplating  the  finest 
models,  and  the  chef-cPwuvres  of  the  masters  in  sculpture, 
painting,  and  architecture.  General  Meigs  was  particu- 
larly delighted  with  what  he  observed  at  the  Vienna  Ex- 
hibition in  18Y3,  in  regard  to  the  distinguished  excellence 
of  the  English  drawings  on  exhibition,  and  he  compliments 
them  in  his  report  by  saying :  "  One  of  the  most  gratify- 
ing parts  of  this  exhibition  was  the  drawings  from  the 
English  art-schools ;  the  gradual  creeping  of  art  in  its 
highest  sense  into  the  common  course  of  education,  thus 
permeating  all  parts  of  society,  elevating,  refining,  and 
ennobling  our  aspirations." 

The  same  person  is  often  able  to  execute  what  he  de- 
signs, and  then  he  can  see  the  interpretation  of  his  thought 
in  the  work  of  his  hands  ;  and  I  apprehend  this  must  add 
very  mnch  to  the  enjoyment  he  experiences  in  his  indus- 
try. Man  acts  upon  man,  so  that  a  sympathy  naturally 
grows  up  by  which  those  with  whom  they  work,  and 
those  for  whom  they  work,  have  a  common  sentiment  and 
object,  that  of  making  things  beautiful  as  well  as  useful ; 
for  the  useful  can  no  longer  exist  apart  from  the  beauti- 


ARTIST  AND   ARTISAN.  43 

ful.  The  artist  who  designs  a  magnificent  building,  or  a 
masterpiece  in  painting,  enjoys  the  happiness  as  well  as 
the  temperament  of  genius.  It  is  the  same  to  a  degree 
with  the  minor  arts  which  minister  to  our  daily  comfort ; 
and  the  workman  who  fabricates  a  cup,  a  vase,  a  bronze, 
or  any  object  of  utility  in  which  form,  color,  and  design 
are  embodied,  experiences  an  emotion  of  the  same  kind, 
and  an  intellectual  pleasure  which  he  makes  apparent  on 
his  work.  The  art  in  both  cases  is  of  the  same  general 
nature.  Like  the  leaf  and  the  fruit  that  grow  joined  on 
the  same  stalk,  there  is  a  friendly  relation.  The  idea 
comes  from  the  unseen  world  within — the  masterpiece  of 
the  highest  art  to  please  the  eye,  and  the  object  of  utility 
as  an  accessory  to  man's  happiness.  The  art  of  the  arti- 
san and  that  of  the  artist  may  differ  in  the  objects  to 
which  they  are  applied,  but  they  have  so  much  in  com- 
mon that  the  same  fundamental  graces  and  beauties  play 
an  important  part  in  their  respective  studies.  Art  is  no 
respecter  of  persons,  and  she  acknowledges  her  offspring, 
however  humble  their  origin.  She  is  a  powerful  en- 
chantress, and  is  to-day  engaged  in  the  personal  service 
and  gratification  of  the  art-workman  wherever  employed. 
She  not  only  embellishes  his  work  but  his  life,  and  refines 
his  industry  with  an  exquisite  taste.  His  sentiments  run 
along  with  his  hands  and  eyes  and  strike  into  his  very 
temper,  making  his  toil  less  wearisome,  and  giving  him 
many  delightful  thoughts  and  happy  moments  to  relieve 
the  burden  and  perplexity  of  his  labor. 

In  a  work  consecrated  to  the  problem  of  industrial 
education,  I  have  commenced  with  a  presentation  of 
actual  facts,  and  have,  therefore,  given  this  brief  account 
of  what  exists  abroad.     A  successful  example  is  of  more 


44    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

practical  value  than  the  most  confident  aflSrraations.  What 
is  industrial  education  ?  What  are  its  merits  and  objects, 
and,  above  all,  what  power  does  it  possess  of  administer- 
ing to  some  useful  purpose  in  the  productive  arts  of  life  ? 
Now,  if  we  can  speak  from  things  we  have  seen,  and 
where  the  whole  problem  in  question  has  been  worked 
out  in  all  its  details,  we  can  answer  these  questions  with 
exactness  and  precision,  because  we  know  what  we  are 
talking  about.  Hence  the  necessity  of  consulting  suc- 
cessful examples  abroad,  when  they  have  sucli  a  direct 
bearing  upon  the  current  facts  in  our  history. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  United  States — Dependent  upon  Europe — Want  of  trained  skill — Our 
cotton  and  woolen  fabrics  superior — Pottery  and  other  articles  from 
abroad — The  material  produced  in  the  United  States  purchased  back — 
Russia  and  other  countries — Art  pervades  all  things — Political  econo- 
my— Its  maxims — American  taste  for  luxury — Cheap  lands  scarcer — 
Industrial  classes  must  rely  upon  trades — Effect  of  making  what  we 
need — Adam  Smith  on  home-trade — We  should  acquire  skill — Raise 
wages — Raw  material  in  the  United  States — Causes  of  national  pros- 
perity— Our  natural  resources — Practical  education — Linen,  hemp, 
wool — Other  articles — Effect  of  training  industrial  classes — The  value 
put  on  material  by  art — Its  general  effect — New  England — Massa- 
chusetts— Arts  and  manufactures  of — Education  in — The  Worcester 
Free  Institute — The  Illinois  Industrial  University. 

We  cannot  turn  to  our  own  country  without  deep 
anxiety,  for  the  subject  of  industrial  education  has  a  spe- 
cial interest  for  the  people  of  the  United  States.  The 
wealth  and  prosperity  of  the  nation  essentially  depend 
upon  the  extent  and  perfection  of  its  industry. 

No  modem  people,  with  a  country  so  rich  in  its  own 
resources,  has  cultivated  less  sparingly  its  peculiar  ener- 
gies. Indeed,  an  effort  to  convince  our  representative 
men  of  the  necessity  of  industrial  education  is  regarded 
as  an  equivocal  innovation,  and  in  many  quarters  is  met 
with  a  discouraging  sneer ;  and  it  is  suggested  that 
American  enterprise  and  pluck  will  supply  the  deficien- 
cies of  ignorance.    The  example  of  other  nations  should 


46    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

serve  to  rouse  us  to  a  sense  of  our  condition,  or  we  shall  be 
subjected  to  all  the  consequences  of  a  dangerous  foreign  ri- 
valship.  With  the  means  of  supplying  ourselves,  we  lavish 
our  treasure  upon  other  countries  for  commodities  which 
could  be  made  by  our  own  artisans,  if  they  were  properly 
instructed  in  the  theoretical  knowledge  of  their  art.  The 
natural  resources  of  the  countries  upon  whom  we  lavish 
such  immense  sums  are  greatly  inferior  to  our  own  ;  but, 
by  their  system  of  educational  training,  they  have  raised 
themselves  to  wealth,  and  made  us  dependent  upon  them 
to  supply  a  considerable  portion  of  our  wants  and  luxu- 
ries. Switzerland,  with  its  sterile  rocks  and  arid  mount- 
ains ;  Germany,  with  little  naturally  to  rely  upon,  except 
its  sleepless  toil  and  patient  industry ;  France,  that  had 
no  common  school  until  now  ;  and  England,  that  cannot 
produce  food  to  feed  her  own  people — furnish  us  with  such 
immense  quantities  of  things  and  conveniences  as  almost 
to  defy  belief ;  and  our  importing  merchants  have  their 
agents  ransacking  the  industries  of  Europe  for  the  regu- 
lation of  our  markets  and  the  disposition  of  our  resources. 

Our  industries  are  supplanted  by  those  abroad  for 
want  of  well-trained  mechanical  skill  at  home ;  and  this 
will  continue,  to  our  superlative  disadvantage,  until  we 
become  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  educational  develop- 
ment in  our  workshops. 

What  we  need  in  this  country  is  a  correct  public 
opinion  on  the  relation  of  education  to  industry.  When 
this  becomes  a  subject  of  general  interest,  a  great  increase 
of  material  prosperity  may  be  confidently  expected,  the 
interchange  of  the  products  of  ingenuity  will  be  indefi- 
nitely extended,  and  the  influence  of  individual  industry 
upon  the  general  welfare  will  be  widely  felt. 


AMERICAN   PRODUCTS,  FOREIGN  ARTICLES.  47 

Tlie  cotton  fabrics  of  the  American  loom  are  perhaps 
superior  to  those  of  other  nations ;  and  yet  we  import 
from  foreign  countries  cotton  goods  of  inferior  quality,  be- 
cause their  dyers,  designers,  and  printers  can  produce  a 
finer  appearance  and  more  striking  effect  on  account  of 
their  artistic  training.  Our  woolen  manufactures  excel  in 
durability  and  firmness,  and  are  now  made  from  material 
grown  in  our  own  country ;  and  yet,  from  the  coat  of  the 
rich  man  to  the  shawl  of  the  lady,  whenever  fineness  and 
delicacy  are  wanted,  or  brilliant  coloring,  or  tasteful  de- 
sign, the  foreign  fabric  maintains  its  superiority.  Our 
finest  articles  of  pottery,  porcelain,  and  delft- ware,  a  great 
part  of  our  cambrics  and  muslins,  velvets  and  silks,  rib- 
bons and  laces,  ladies'  dresses  and  shoes,  articles  of  bronze 
and  glass,  leather-work,  and  ornaments  of  every  descrip- 
tion, together  with  a  thousand  nameless  articles  of  luxury 
and  convenience,  must  still  make  a  voyage  across  the 
Atlantic  before  we  can  use  them. 

It  is  interesting,  in  this  connection,  to  remember  that 
the  raw  material  in  a  considerable  part  of  these  commodi- 
ties is  produced  in  this  country,  especially  cotton,  wool, 
and  leather,  and  exported  to  Europe,  and  returned  here 
to  be  purchased  by  us  at  four  or  five  times  the  price 
which  we  received  for  it.  As  a  consequence,  the  skilled 
labor  abroad  receives  the  benefit  of  this  prodigious  in- 
crease of  its  value,  while  our  own  people,  perhaps,  remain 
without  employment,  because  they  do  not  possess  the 
necessary  skill  to  produce  it.  Educate  our  own  people  in 
the  knowledge  of  these  beautiful  industries,  and,  instead 
of  paying  this  vast  tribute  abroad,  we  should  give  em- 
ployment to  millions  of  our  own  citizens,  keep  alive  the 
spirit  of  enterprise,  give  new  life  to  our  manufactures, 


48    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

and  build  up  great  seats  of  industry,  such  as  have  fol- 
lowed from  the  same  cause  elsewhere. 

At  one  time  Russia,  seeing  the  advantage  of  creating 
a  home  market  for  her  own  people,  prohibited,  under 
penalty  of  confiscation,  the  importation  of  all  those  arti- 
cles which  could  be  manufactured  at  home.  She  has 
more  recently,  as  we  have  seen,  discovered  a  better  way 
by  which  her  own  people  can  work  up  her  raw  material, 
and  reap  the  benefit  of  their  industry.  Her  rulers  have 
instituted  a  grand  system  of  technical  education,  with  the 
noble  Imperial  Technical  School  of  Moscow  at  the  head 
of  the  organization,  and  still  others  of  lesser  grade,  for 
teaching  trades  to  her  youth.  Indeed,  it  may  now  be 
said  that  there  is  no  civilized  community  which  has  not 
recognized  the  necessity  of  this  policy.  Spain,  Portugal, 
and  Italy,  Sweden,  Denmark,  and  Austria,  have  adopted 
a  similar  course,  and  vie  witli  each  other  in  the  means 
they  offer  to  instruct  those  engaged  in  carrying  on  their 
national  industries.  No  better  means  could  be  devised 
for  improving  the  social  condition  of  workmen  or  advanc- 
ing the  general  progress  of  society,  for  art  now  pervades 
all  the  various  pursuits  of  life.  The  abstract  speculations 
of  political  economy  support  a  system  of  training  which 
would  produce  skilled  workmen  for  our  various  industries. 
It  must  be  admitted  by  all  that  we  should  not  send  abroad 
for  articles  of  consumption  which  we  can  manufacture  or 
produce  as  well  and  as  cheaply  at  home.  It  seems  to  be 
an  axiom  that  foreign  commerce  only  produces  riches 
when  the  amount  of  the  exportations  exceed  in  value  what 
are  imported  ;  and  it  is  claimed  that  the  country  having 
this  balance  in  its  favor  is  conducting  a  profitable  traffic. 
The  converse  of  this  proposition  is  also  very  generally 


POLITICAL  ECONOMY,  CHEAP  LANDS.  49 

received  as  a  current  maxim,  viz,  that  the  country  which 
buys  more  than  it  sells  is  doing  a  losing  business,  and  will 
become  poorer  and  poorer  as  long  as  it  deals  at  this  dis- 
advantage. It  is  like  the  man  who  spends  more  than  his 
income,  and  must  of  necessity  make  up  the  deficiency  out 
of  the  balance  of  his  estate,  if  he  has  one,  or  run  into 
insolvency  if  he  has  not  one. 

According  to  this  theory,  our  trade  with  other  coun- 
tries is  carried  on  by  changing  our  products  for  their 
manufactures  as  far  as  they  are  of  reciprocal  value,  and 
receiving  the  balance  in  cash ;  and  as  this  balance  for 
several  years  has  been  very  large,  our  increase  in  wealth 
has  been  enormous.  Our  exports  have  consisted  princi- 
pally though  not  entirely  of  breadstulis,  meats,  petroleum, 
cotton,  and  tobacco,  while  the  range  of  imports  embrace 
such  an  array  of  manufactured  articles  that  it  would  be 
extremely  difiicult  to  enumerate  them.  The  disposition 
of  the  Americans  to  purchase  articles  of  taste  and  luxury 
has  kept  pace  with  our  prosperity,  and  the  demand  has 
stimulated  every  branch  of  industry  in  the  United  States 
and  many  of  those  in  Europe.  It  is  becoming  a  neces- 
sity that  our  own  artisans  should  supply  this  ever-in- 
creasing demand  to  supply  the  wants  and  tastes  of  these 
fifty  millions  of  people.  The  time  was  when  the  in- 
dustrial classes  employed  the  savings  of  their  wages  in 
the  purchase  of  cheap  lands  for  cultivation  ;  but  that 
is  no  longer  practical.  Our  cheap  lands  for  cultivation 
are  becoming  scarcer  and  more  remote  every  year.  Vast 
areas  are  in  the  hands  of  individuals  and  corporations,  and 
the  operations  of  agriculture  are  wrought  by  costly  ma- 
chines which  have  revolutionized  the  old  system  of  tillage, 
and  introduced  an  inconceivable  rapidity  and  cheapness 


50     EDUCATIOX  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

of  labor.  A  considerable  amount  of  capital  is  now  indis- 
pensable in  order  to  compete  successfully  in  farming. 
The  cultivation  of  the  land  cannot  be  attained  on  such 
easy  terms  as  when  it  was  nearer  and  more  abundant,  and 
it  has  consequently  almost  ceased  to  attract  those  em- 
ployed in  other  pursuits.  Our  industrious  classes  will 
therefore  have  to  rely  more  and  more  upon  their  trades 
for  the  means  of  subsistence,  and  the  proposition  is  main- 
tained that  the  best  means  of  securing  this  end  and 
of  increasing  the  general  industry  of  society  is  to  train 
and  educate  them  properly  in  the  art  of  producing,  in  our 
own  towns  and  cities,  articles  of  as  good  quality  and  as 
attractive  in  appearance  as  those  which  are  imported. 
The  vast  amounts  which  are  now  expended  upon  foreign 
labor  would,  in  that  case,  be  distributed  among  home 
industries,  and  would  greatly  multiply  domestic  employ- 
ments ;  while  the  effect  upon  all  branches  of  trade,  such 
as  the  baker,  the  butcher,  the  merchant,  and  the  banker, 
the  farmers,  the  laborers,  those  who  live  in  the  country, 
and  those  who  dwell  in  the  cities,  every  clafs  and  every 
interest  in  society,  would  be  to  benefit  them  all  in  an  ex- 
traordinary degree,  and  to  substitute  industry  for  idleness, 
and  skill  for  ignorance,  in  the  useful  pursuits  of  life. 

Adam  Smith  lays  down  some  views  very  pertinent  to 
this  point  when  he  says:  "But  a  capital  employed  in  the 
home-trade,  it  has  already  been  shown,  necessarily  puts 
into  motion  a  greater  quantity  of  domestic  industry,  and 
gives  revenue  and  employment  to  a  greater  number  of 
the  inliabitants  of  the  country,  than  an  equal  capital  em- 
ployed in  the  foreign  trade  of  consumption,  and  one 
employed  in  the  foreign  trade  has  the  same  advantage 
over  an  equal  capital  employed   in    the  carrying-trade. 


ADAM   SMITH  AND   FREE   TRADE.  51 

Upon  equal  or  nearly  equal  profits,  therefore,  every  indi- 
vidual naturally  inclines  to  employ  his  capital  in  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  likely  to  afibrd  the  greatest  support 
to  domestic  industry,  and  to  give  revenue  and  employ- 
ment to  the  greatest  number  of  people  in  his  own  coun- 
try." * 

These  remarks,  from  the  highest  authority  among  the 
advocates  of  free  trade,  may  be  unreservedly  accepted  by 
the  friends  of  industrial  education.  They  express  senti- 
ments to  which  we  desire  to  give  the  greatest  prominence, 
for,  if  the  natural  conditions  are  favorable,  it  is  better  to 
produce  what  is  wanted  at  home  than  to  import  it.  It  is 
no  answer  to  reply  to  a  proposition  so  plain  that  we  are 
striving  for  a  Utopian  condition,  in  which  we  will  sell 
everything  and  buy  nothing.  It  is  a  lesson  of  practical 
wisdom  not  to  subordinate  incessantly  our  own  industries 
and  our  own  markets  to  those  abroad,  and  to  place  our- 
selves at  the  mercy  of  every  foreign  enterprise  against 
our  industrial  independence,  under  the  specious  pretext 
of  maintaining  a  system  of  free  trade.  If  any  country 
excels  us  in  the  manufacture  of  any  kind  of  goods  which 
we  need  or  desire,  their  influx  here  is  inevitable ;  but  if 
we  have  the  natural  productions  and  the  climate  in  our 
favor,  and  only  lack  the  manufacturing  skill,  would  it  not 
be  wise  to  acquire  that  skill,  and  by  that  means  establish 
a  domestic  industry  which  would  benefit  the  whole  coun- 
try, rather  than  to  drive  a  branch  of  foreign  trade  which 
is  profitable  only  to  foreign  labor?  Our  imports  might 
be  diminished,  but  the  national  industry  would  be  aug- 
mented, and  the  particular  kind  of  goods  increased  among 
our  own  people,  while  the  change  would  furnish  new 
*  "  Wealth  of  Nations,"  book  iv,  chapter  ii. 


52    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

employments  and  raise  the  wages  of  labor  without  in- 
creasing prices,  for  high-paid  labor  is  the  cheapest  in  the 
long  run  when  it  is  the  offspring  of  skill  and  science. 
We  will  get  to  know  the  necessity  of  this  conduct  when 
we  can  no  longer  misunderstand  the  danger  of  neglecting 
it.  In  all  countries  where  the  useful  arts  have  made 
large  progress,  such  as  England,  France,  and  the  United 
States,  the  productions  will  be  nearly  if  not  quite  similar 
in  kind,  differing  only  in  quality  and  salability :  thus, 
cotton  and  woolen  goods,  linens,  silks,  iron,  steel,  copper, 
jewelry,  porcelain,  etc.,  are  manufactured  in  each  of 
these  countries,  and  it  is  childish  to  affirm  that  the  natu- 
ral conditions  in  regard  to  these  commodities  are  not 
so  favorable  with  tlie  last  as  with  the  two  others.  It 
is  by  improvement  in  the  arts  of  production  that  they 
have  acquired  a  superiority  and  influenced  the  trade  of 
the  commercial  world  to  their  advantage.  This  advan- 
tage will  preponderate  heavily  in  favor  of  both  England 
and  France  as  long  as  we  neglect  the  means  which  have 
operated  wherever  the  higher  industries  have  flourished. 
There  are  other  causes  which  influence  the  growth  of  a 
nation's  prosperity ;  the  price  of  land,  the  cheapness  of 
living,  the  natural  productions  of  the  soil,  the  effect  of 
climate,  and  the  cost  of  the  raw  material,  are  not  the 
same  in  all  countries,  and  the  one  favored  by  Nature  most 
abundantly  will  possess  certain  economic  advantages  as 
compared  with  the  others.  We  can  compare  the  natural 
resources  of  the  United  States  with  those  of  any  other 
country.  All  the  materials  for  economic  aggrandizement 
are  displayed  in  the  vast  regions  we  inhabit ;  our  people 
are  hardy,  ingenious,  and  intelligent,  either  in  peace  or 
war.    Ilelying  upon  these,  we  have  done  little  or  nothing 


OUR  NATURAL  RESOURCES.  63 

for  the  scientific  training  of  skilled  workmen,  without 
which  our  magnificent  inheritance  is  in  great  part  ren- 
dered of  no  avail.  The  moment  has  come  when  we  must 
take  a  firm  and  solid  step  for  practical  education.  Ele- 
mentary education  is  no  longer  a  question.  It  is  a  matter 
of  knowing  what  can  be  done  by  way  of  applying  it  to 
the  useful  pursuits  of  the  people  who  work.  It  is  a  sub- 
ject in  which  all  citizens  of  all  parties  have  an  interest. 
When  other  countries  are  raising  the  standard  of  work- 
manship higher  and  higher,  why  should  we  occupy  our- 
selves only  with  the  incoherencies  of  discussion,  the 
embarrassments  of  supplying  our  wants  abroad,  and  in 
talking  of  reform  ? 

Suppose  we  manufactured  our  own  linen,  it  would 
stimulate  the  supply  of  flax,  which  can  be  grown  in  the 
United  States  of  as  good  quality  as  in  Europe ;  and 
laborers  now  idle  by  the  thousand  might  cultivate  the 
crops  on  land  now  unused  ;  while  mills  and  operatives  to 
manufacture  the  fabric  and  the  machinery  will  introduce 
a  great  industry.  So  of  hemp,  of  wool  and  woolen  goods, 
in  the  production  of  which  we  might  soon  excel  the 
Asiatics  by  the  use  of  ingenious  machines,  thereby  off- 
setting their  prodigious  supply  of  manual  labor.  We  im- 
port vast  quantities  of  iron,  steel,  copper,  lead,  zinc,  and 
the  beautiful  articles  into  which  all  the  metals  are  fabri- 
cated, and  yet  these  materials  are  found  in  widely-diffused 
abundance  within  our  own  limits.  And  sometimes  it 
happens  that  multitudes  of  our  own  people  are  suffering 
for  want  of  work,  for  the  simple  reason  that  there  is 
greater  skill  used  abroad  in  these  trades  than  that  which 
our  own  workmen  have  an  opportunity  of  acquiring. 

The  same  holds  true  in  regard  to  fine  porcelain,  silks, 


54    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

jewelry,  and  countless  other  utilities,  whicli  can  only  be 
produced  by  skilled  labor  and  mechanical  science. 

In  commenting  upon  the  necessity  of  industrial  edu- 
cation there  is  no  reference  intended  to  the  effects  of 
free  trade  or  protection.  Xothing  is  more  common  than 
the  discussion  of  that  question ;  but  the  object  of  this 
work  is  to  point  out  the  general  necessity  of  training  the 
industrial  classes  to  act  intelligently  upon  all  industrial 
objects,  to  make  them  self-reliant,  and  ready  to  put  forth 
all  their  energies  to  the  greatest  advantage,  and  to  qualify 
them  to  contend  successfully  with  the  practical  dilemmas 
of  their  every-day  business.  This  condition  will  also  be 
valuable  as  preparatory  of  further  advances  in  the  useful, 
the  ornamental,  and  the  fine  arts,  for  it  will  represent  a 
transitional  period  in  the  evolution  of  grander  inventions 
and  more  intellectual  arts,  which  will  relieve  labor  and 
elevate  human  intelligence. 

We  have  seen  the  effects  in  Europe  of  art-education 
in  diffusing  the  spirit  of  general  improvement  among  the 
mechanic  and  manufacturing  industries.  It  is  possible 
to  trace  to  this  source  the  growth  and  enlargement  of 
wealth  and  prosperity  in  the  industrial  nations.  Indeed, 
art  is  the  origin  of  the  first  price  we  pay  for  all  things. 
This  is  especially  apparent  in  those  wonderful  triumphs 
of  human  ingenuity  where  it  has  conferred  upon  materials 
of  the  most  trivial  cost  a  value  almost  beyond  belief.  A 
bale  of  cotton  is  computed  to  be  worth  five  hundred  dol- 
lars ;  but  when  manufactured,  it  is  supposed  to  be  worth 
two  thousand  dollars.  The  baser  metals  are  often  con- 
verted, by  mechanical  art  and  skill,  into  forms  which  as- 
sume a  value  exceeding  their  weight  in  gold.  Owing  to 
a  peculiarity  in  our  domestic  habits,  the  use  of  glass  is 


VALUE  BESTOWED   BY   ART.  55 

immensely  extended.  The  materials  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed may  be  said  intrinsically  to  be  of  no  value.  Not 
only  for  table-service,  window-glass,  and  mirrors,  but 
also  for  lamps,  chimneys,  globes,  shades,  chandeliers,  and 
enameled  work,  the  market  in  this  country  is  practicahy 
without  limit.  Our  manufacturers  have  acquired  great 
proficiency,  equaling  and  often  surpassing,  in  strength 
and  beauty,  any  of  that  made  abroad.  We  have  the 
best  material  possible  ;  and  there  is  no  reason  why  these 
beautiful  fabrics,  unless  from  want  of  artistic  skill,  should 
be  imported ;  yet  four  millions  worth  of  imported  glass 
was  consumed  last  year  (1881)  in  the  United  States. 

Now,  the  enormous  increase  in  the  value  of  the  raw 
material  is  realized  by  the  community  in  which  it  is 
manufactured.  In  producing  this  change,  art  adapts  its 
properties  to  human  use ;  the  labor  of  many  persons 
is  required;  it  gives  employment  to  both  sexes  and  to 
various  grades  of  industry  and  skill,  and  contributes 
equally  to  commercial  prosperity,  intellectual  progress, 
national  wealth,  and  the  beauty  and  refinement  of  civil- 
ized life.  Other  collateral  industries  grow  up  in  the 
neighborhood  to  provide  the  necessary  machinery,  tools, 
and  buildings.  The  village  soon  becomes  a  populous 
city ;  the  useful  arts  increase  in  variety,  the  lands  rise  in 
value,  and  the  real  wealth  of  the  nation  is  wonderfully 
enhanced. 

The  whole  of  New  England  may  be  chosen  as  an 
illustration,  for  there  the  advancement  of  useful  art  has 
been  the  most  remarkable  in  the  United  States.  Mr. 
Preston,  of  South  Carolina,  in  a  speech  made  many  years 
ago,  declared  that  the  only  natural  productions  for  ex- 
portation from  Massachusetts  were  granite  and  ice.     Per- 


56    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

haps  there  is  no  spot  in  the  land  where  Nature  has  pro- 
vided so  scantily  and  exacted  so  much,  to  make  it  the 
abode  of  industry,  and  yet  there  is  scarcely  any  other  in 
the  present  age  where  so  vast  a  trade  has  been  managed  ; 
nay,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  her  industries  are  more 
mixed  and  varied  than  those  of  any  other  quarter  of  the 
globe  of  the  same  narrow  compass.  Her  cotton,  her  wool, 
her  iron,  the  elements  upon  which  she  works ;  and  her 
corn,  and  wheat,  and  cattle,  upon  which  she  depends  for 
food — all  come  from  States  more  favored  by  soil  and 
climate.  And  whoever  has  traveled  in  New  England  and 
observed  the  number  of  its  great  and  populous  towns, 
and  the  splendid  improvements  of  ahnuost  every  spot  of 
ground  ;  the  multitudes  constantly  employed  in  her  fac- 
tories, her  furnaces,  and  workshops,  and  the  numbers  of 
her  people,  all  active  and  busy,  may  wonder,  perhaps,  at 
the  foundation  of  her  success,  for  we  must  know  that  she 
could  not  grow  rich  by  exporting  granite  and  ice.  The 
ingredients  of  life  and  success  are  few  and  simple.  New 
England  grew  rich  by  force  of  industry,  by  improvement, 
by  education,  and  the  manufacture  of  the  natural  growths 
of  other  States,  and  by  furnishing  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try with  whatever  their  wants  or  their  markets  demanded 
or  invited ;  and  thus,  by  her  own  right  arm,  sbe  forced 
the  greatness  of  her  profits  to  make  amends  for  the  stin- 
giness of  Nature. 

In  those  districts  which  have  become  the  seats  of 
great  industries  we  often  find  an  immense  increase  in  pop- 
ulation and  wealth,  and,  if  we  do  not  find  a  corresponding 
advance  in  the  education  of  the  people,  they  are  apt  to 
become  overgrown  masses  of  ignorance  and  moral  corrup- 
tion.    All  accounts  agree  in  ascribing  this  character  to 


NEW  ENGLAND.  57 

the  crowded  manufactories  of  England,  previous  to  a  time, 
quite  recent,  when  the  spirit  of  the  whole  kingdom  be- 
came roused  up  to  the  necessity  of  a  system  of  public 
teaching  for  the  benelit  of  the  industrial  classes.  On  the 
other  hand,  in  Massachusetts  the  maxim  was  early  adopted, 
and  has  been  continually  enforced  in  every  period  of  her 
history,  that  the  more  cultivated  a  man's  intellect  is  the 
more  productive  is  his  labor  and  the  better  his  life.  There 
is  a  commercial  as  well  as  a  moral  value  in  knowledge, 
for  it  refines  all  the  senses  and  passions  of  the  soul,  and 
by  an  inevitable  tendency  elevates  the  whole  of  our  hu- 
manity. Of  this  she  is  a  striking  examjile.  Her  products 
have  not  only  enriched  her  at  home,  but  her  ideas  are  as 
prevalent  and  wide-spread  as  her  notions ;  she  furnishes 
every  quarter  of  our  extended  country  with  teachers  in 
schools  and  colleges,  and  thus  imbues  our  American 
youth  with  her  educational  methods  and  thoughts.  There 
is  scarcely  a  business  establishment  where  her  skilled 
workmen  are  not  found,  and  in  all  the  cities  and  towns 
of  the  Middle  and  Western  States  her  sons  hold  the  first 
rank  in  position  and  influence ;  they  fill  the  learned  pro- 
fessions, lead  in  commercial  industry,  and  explore  every 
avenue  of  art,  trade,  and  wealth.  Indeed,  the  advantages 
she  has  obtained  constitute  a  splendid  monument  for  her 
immense  efforts  in  educating  her  people.  As  she  was  the 
first  in  the  world  to  establish  a  system  of  common  schools, 
so  is  she  also  the  first,  or  at  least  among  the  first,  to  afford 
an  example  of  an  institution  for  the  promotion  of  indus- 
trial science. 

The  Worcester  Free  Institute  was  founded  in  1 805,  by 
John  Boynton,  a  citizen  of  Templeton,  Worcester  County, 
Massachusetts,  who  gave  the  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand 


58     EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

dollars  for  its  endowment  and  support.  In  his  deed  of 
gift  he  says  :  "  The  aim  of  this  school  shall  ever  be  the 
instruction  of  youth  in  those  branches  of  education,  not 
usually  taught  in  the  public  schools,  which  are  essential 
and  best  adapted  to  train  the  young  for  practical  life,  and 
especially  that  such  as  are  intending  to  be  mechanics,  or 
manufacturers,  or  farmers,  may  attain  an  understanding 
of  the  principle  of  science  applicable  to  their  pursuits,  and 
will  qualify  them  in  the  best  manner  for  an  intelligent 
and  successful  prosecution  of  their  business ;  and  that 
such  as  intend  to  devote  themselves  to  any  of  the  branches 
of  mercantile  business  shall  in  like  manner  be  instructed 
in  those  parts  of  learning  most  serviceable  to  them  ;  and 
that  such  as  design  to  become  teachers  of  common  schools 
may  be  in  the  best  manner  fitted  for  their  calling ;  and 
the  various  schemes  of  study  and  courses  of  instruction 
shall  always  be  in  accordance  with  this  fundamental 
design,  so  as  thereby  to  meet  a  want  which  our  public 
schools  have  hitherto  but  inadequately  supplied."  The 
Hon.  Stephen  Salisbury  made  an  additional  gift  of  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  said,  "  This  school  will 
not  attempt  to  turn  out  in  this  short  period  an  Arkwright, 
a  Stephenson,  or  a  Fulton,  but  it  may  give  facilities  and 
helps  which  these  great  mechanics  did  not  possess." 

The  Hon.  Ichabod  Washburn,  of  Worcester,  gave  the 
institute  a  machine-shop  and  provided  it  with  its  equip- 
ments and  a  fund  of  five  thousand  dollars  to  be  expended 
for  stock,  and  the  interest  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  to 
provide  for  contingencies.  Besides  all  these  advantages, 
the  locality  of  the  school  is  highly  favorable,  for  the 
whole  neighborhood  is  extensively  engaged  in  manufact- 
uring arts  and  trades    of   every  description.     I  make  a 


FREE  INSTITUTE  AT  WORCESTER.  59 

brief  extract  from  the  catalogue  of  1880,  as  follows: 
"  The  institute  has  graduated  nine  classes,  aggregating 
one  hundred  and  eightj-six  students.  The  ease  with 
which  more  than  ninety  per  cent  of  these  young  men  have 
secured  honorable  and  lucrative  employment,  in  stations 
for  which  their  training  especially  prepared  them,  con- 
firms the  confidence  of  the  trustees  in  the  soundness  of 
the  general  principles  upon  which  the  school  is  organ- 
ized." 

Candidates  for  admission  must  give  evidence  of  pro- 
ficiency in  the  common  English  branches  of  learning. 
The  course  of  study  embraces  a  period  of  three  years, 
and,  while  some  studies  are  pursued  by  all  the  classes 
alike,  every  student  has  to  select  at  some  time  during  the 
first  year  some  department  in  which  he  must  devote  ten 
hours  a  week  to  practice  until  his  graduation — that  is 
to  say,  for  two  and  a  half  years'  students  who  select 
chemistry,  work  in  the  laboratory ;  the  civil  engineers, 
at  field-work  or  problems  in  construction ;  those  who 
select  drawing,  in  the  drawing-room ;  and  those  who  se- 
lect physics,  in  the  physical  laboratory.  The  mechanical 
section  practice  in  the  workshop  to  the  end  of  the  term  ; 
and  after  the  latter  have  been  sufiiciently  advanced  they 
receive  instruction  in  designing  machinery,  and  undertake 
the  building  of  one  or  more  complete  machines  from  their 
own  drawing.  The  class  of  last  year  constructed  a  Cor- 
liss engine ;  the  class  of  1880  made  an  upright  reversible 
engine.  Indeed,  all  the  facilities  of  a  first-rate  machine- 
shop  are  offered  to  the  students  in  this  section  for  obtain- 
ing a  practical  knowledge  of  the  use  of  tools,  the  manage- 
ment of  machines,  and  the  theory  of  their  construction. 
In  a  word,  the  institution  is  designed  to  meet  the  wants  of 


60    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

those  who  wish  to  be  prepared  as  mechanics,  civil  en- 
gineers, chemists,  or  designers,  for  the  duties  of  active 
life  with  the  advantages  of  a  solid  education. 

The  Illinois  Industrial  University,  located  at  Urbana, 
Champaign  County,  Illinois,  had  its  origin  in  this  move- 
ment for  the  higher  education  of  the  industrial  classes. 
It  is  even  more  richly  endowed  than  the  Free  Institute 
at  Worcester,  and  to  the  union  of  most  of  the  excellences 
of  the  latter  it  adds  many  of  those  belonging  to  a  uni- 
versity. It  has  a  college  of  agriculture,  in  which  to 
educate  agriculturists  and  horticulturists ;  a  stock-farm ; 
an  experimental  farm,  with  all  the  apparatus  and  breeds 
of  cattle  ;  together  with  nurseries,  orchards,  exotics,  green- 
houses, gardens,  and  all  that  can  give  practical  knowl- 
edge in  farming  and  aid  in  the  development  of  an  agri- 
cultural science.  In  the  college  of  engineering  is  the 
school  of  mechanical  engineering.  It  aims  to  fit  the 
students  to  invent,  design,  construct,  and  manage  ma- 
chinery for  any  branch  of  manufacture ;  and  the  need 
for  men  is  recognized,  who,  to  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  principles  of  machinery  and  of  the  various  motors, 
add  the  practical  skill  necessary  to  design  and  construct 
the  machines  by  which  these  motors  are  made  to  work. 
There  is  also  a  college  of  natural  science  and  one  of 
literature  and  science;  to  these,  are  added  a  school  of 
military  science,  and  a  school  of  art  and  design.  This 
last  school  is  represented  in  the  catalogue  as  having  a 
twofold  purpose:  1.  It  affords  to  the  students  in  the  sev- 
eral colleges  the  opportunity  to  acquire  such  knowledge 
of  free-hand  drawing  as  their  chosen  course  may  require. 
2.  It  affords  to  such  as  have  a  talent  or  taste  for  art, 
the  best  facilities  for  pursuing  studies  in  industrial  design- 


ILLINOIS  INDUSTRIAL  UNIVERSITY.  61 

ing  or  other  branches  of  fine  art.  Schools  of  design  in 
Europe  and  in  this  country  have  been  found  important 
aids  to  the  higher  manufactures,  adding  to  the  beauty  of 
fabric  and  to  the  skill  and  taste  of  workmen.  The  in- 
creased interest  in  the  decorative  arts  and  in  the  manu- 
factures which  they  require,  has  added  new  importance  to 
the  study  of  drawing  and  designing.  It  is  the  purpose  to 
keep  this  school  of  design  abreast  with  the  best  move- 
ments in  this  direction.  The  text-books,  cabinets,  mu- 
seum, gallery  of  fine  arts,  laboratories,  and  workshops — 
indeed,  the  whole  course  of  studies  and  the  ample  staff  of 
teachers  and  assistants — all  bear  testimony  to  the  practical 
character  of  the  institution,  and  the  careful  attention  be- 
stowed upon  everything  connected  with  the  successful 
prosecution  of  the  original  design  of  the  founders. 


CHAPTER  y. 

Technical  schools  m  the  United  States — Massachusetts  Institute  of  Tech- 
nology— Manual  School,  Washington  University — Stevens  Institute  of 
Technology — The  usefulness  of  these  in  this  country — Scheme  of  the 
Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  and  course  of  study — General 
Walker  on  science  schools — The  School  of  Mechanics  therein,  and  its 
course  of  instruction — Mr.  Foley's  report — Russian  plan  of  manual 
teaching — The  use  of  hand-tools  still  necessary — The  Manual  School 
in  Washington  University,  St.  Louis — Its  plan  of  teaching  shop-work — 
Pennsylvania  Museum  and  School  of  Industrial  Art — Other  technical 
schools  in  Philadelphia — Science  schools  attached  to  universities — 
Agriculture  and  mechanical  colleges  under  land  grants — Some  statistics 
concerning  them — In  order  to  be  useful,  they  must  teach  by  practice — 
The  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  a  good  example — Institu- 
tions for  the  superior  education  of  women — The  number  of  such 
schools  in  the  United  States — Every  facility  should  be  afforded  for 
their  education — Brief  discussion  on  this  subject — Their  employment 
as  farmers,  decorators,  and  architects — The  numerous  trades  open  to 
women — Emily  Faithful's  views — Industrial  education  of  women — 
Equality  of  Education — Co-education — Should  women  pursue  the  old 
system  of  college  studies? — This  is  a  utilitarian  era — "Victor  Cousin 
on  the  fine  arts — Auguste  Comtc  on  science — Other  thinkers — The 
Greeks  can  be  studied  without  studying  Greek — Should  girls  pursue  the 
same  studies  as  the  boys,  in  matters  of  superior  education  ? — Advan- 
tages of  industrial  education  to  women. 

There  are  several  technical  schools  in  the  United 
States,  similar  in  character  to  the  science  and  polytechnic 
schools  in  Europe — such  as  the  Massaclni setts  Institute 
of  Technology  in  Boston,  the  Polytechnic  School  of 
Washington  University  at   St.  Louis,  and  the  Stevens 


TECHNOLOGICAL  SCHOOLS.  63 

Institute  of  Teclinology  at  Hoboken,  New  Jersey.  The 
studies  in  each  extend  through  a  period  of  four  years, 
and  arc  to  prepare  the  pupils  in  the  various  branches  of 
professional  engineering,  architecture,  and  chemistry.  A 
series  of  workshops  are  now  attached  to  each  of  them  for 
instruction  in  practical  mechanics  and  the  use  of  tools  in 
wood  and  iron-work,  so  that,  when  the  courses  are  com- 
pleted, the  students  are  prepared  by  experimental  knowl- 
edge to  engage  at  once  in  their  chosen  occupation.  The 
studies  are  pretty  much  the  same  in  all  the  classes  during 
the  first  year,  and  the  students  then  take  the  course 
adapted  to  their  future  pursuits.  It  is  somewhat  different 
at  the  institute  in  Hoboken,  as  mechanical  engineering 
is  there  the  only  special  study. 

Without  going  into  particulars,  it  may  be  briefly  said 
that  the  object  in  these  schools  is  the  special  and  thorough 
training  of  engineers,  architects,  and  chemists,  in  attain- 
ments far  advanced  beyond  the  means  or  knowledge  pos- 
sessed by  our  colleges  or  universities.  This  system  of 
teaching  is  called  technical,  because  it  involves  the  appli- 
cation of  constructive  principles  with  the  greatest  exact- 
ness in  mechanical  structure  as  well  as  in  execution,  so 
that  the  mechanician  and  engineer  can  meet  the  wants  of 
their  professions  without  the  mistakes  which  usually  arise 
when  experiments  are  conducted  in  ignorance  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  mechanical  powers  or  motors.  Schools  of  this 
kind  are  therefore  designed  for  professional  purposes  and 
professional  men  alone.  And  in  a  country  having  the 
longest  and  most  elevated  bridges  in  the  world,  the  most 
extended  railroads,  a  system  of  internal  improvements 
that  spans  the  continent,  together  with  the  cultivation  of 
a  steam-power  that  plows  up  both  land  and  sea,  and  has 


64    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

created  an  era  in  every  branch  of  human  activity — to 
say  nothing  of  our  inventions,  our  mining,  metallurgic, 
and  manufacturing  interests,  and  our  perfectly  adjusted 
and  delicate  machinery,  which  ranks  among  the  wonders 
of  the  world — it  is,  I  say,  among  the  most  practical  and 
useful  aids  to  our  progress  that  men  should  be  in  the  lead- 
ing places  who  are  learned  in  all  that  is  known  of  natural 
and  mechanical  philosophy.  And  it  is  gratifying  to  know 
that  teaching  to  this  end  has  been  attended  with  trium- 
phant results,  and  that  our  young  men  with  scientific  bias 
need  no  longer  resort  to  the  schools  of  Europe  to  learn 
the  principles  of  economic  science. 

The  main  scheme  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology  is  to  afford  instruction  adapted  to  the  wants 
of  those  who  will  be  engaged  in  professional  pursuits,  in 
which  a  knowledge  of  some  branch  of  applied  science 
is  useful  or  indispensable.  Its  regular  curriculum  com- 
prises nine  courses,  viz.,  one  in  civil  and  topographical 
engineering;  one  in  mechanical  engineering;  one  in 
mining  engineering,  or  geology  and  mining;  one  in 
building  and  architecture ;  one  in  chemistry ;  one  in 
metallurgy ;  one  in  natural  history ;  one  in  physics,  and 
a  general  course  containing  several  subdivisions.  Many 
other  branches  are  also  established,  such  as  mathematics, 
the  French  and  German  languages,  English  history  and 
literature,  political  science,  international  law,  mechan- 
ical drawing,  stone-cutting,  microscopy,  photography, 
mechanics,  electricity,  and  a  very  great  list  of  other  de- 
tails and  subjects  of  study,  the  mere  statement  of  which 
occupies  fourteen  printed  pages  in  the  catalogue  of 
J882-'83.  Indeed,  there  is  no  branch  of  science,  as  ap- 
plied to  industry,  which  is  not  embraced  in  the  courses. 


MASSACHUSETTS  INSTITUTE   OF  TECHNOLOGY.  65 

To  aid  the  students  in  gaining  the  knowledge  specially 
adapted  to  their  intended  professions,  there  are  attached 
to  the  institute  museums,  collections  in  natural  history, 
geology,  and  mineralogy,  laboratories,  and  workshops,  me- 
chanical patterns,  and  machinery  of  various  kinds,  all  of 
which  are  used  to  illustrate  practically  the  theory  and 
principles  of  industrial  science.  In  aid  of  the  practical 
studies  of  the  school,  and  as  a  means  of  familiarizing  the 
students  with  the  actual  details  of  their  studies,  they  are 
required,  in  term-time,  to  make  visits  of  inspection  to  ma- 
chine-shops, mills,  furnaces,  and  chemical  works,  and  to 
visit  important  buildings  and  engineering  constructions 
within  convenient  reach,  and  in  vacations  more  extended 
excursions  are  made  for  the  survey  of  mines  and  geological 
features,  and  for  the  study  of  metallurgical  works  and 
noted  specimens  of  engineering. 

The  students  in  the  course  of  mechanical  engineering 
are  required  to  devote  a  considerable  amount  of  time  to 
work  in  carpentry,  wood-turning,  jiattern-making,  mold- 
ing and  casting,  forging,  chipping  and  filing,  and  planing 
and  turning  the  metals  ;  and  all  the  students  in  the  other 
departments  are  allowed  to  take  shop-work  when  the 
time  will  not  interfere  with  their  regular  studies.  The 
shops  and  laboratories  have  been  provided  with  the  more 
important  hand  and  machine  tools,  so  that  they  can  ac- 
quire a  direct  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  metals  and 
woods,  and  some  manual  skill  in  the  use  of  tools  and  of 
applying  science  required  in  a  variety  of  mechanic  arts. 
The  courses  of  the  institute  extend  through  four  years, 
and  for  proficiency  in  any  one  of  them  the  degree  of 
bachelor  of  science  is  conferred,  and  the  degree  of  doctor  of 
science  has  been  authorized  for  advanced  courses  of  study. 


QQ    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

From  this  brief  account,  it  is  seen  that  the  Massachu- 
setts Institute  of  Technology  is  devoted  to  the  higher  train- 
ing in  utilitarian  science,  and  to  the  cultivation  of  the  in- 
tellectual faculties  so  as  to  harmonize  the  objects  of  edu- 
cation with  the  wants  and  requirements  of  the  age  ;  and  I 
think  it  is  not  extravagant  to  say  that  its  rich  and  varied 
programmes  of  study  and  the  attainments  and  devotion 
of  its  instructors  will  compare  favorably  with  many  of 
the  polytechnic  schools  in  Europe,  upon  which  such  im- 
mense sums  have  been  expended. 

Concerning  the  particular  standing  of  science  schools 
in  our  educational  system,  General  Francis  A.  Walker, 
who  is  at  the  head  of  this  one,  is  reported  recently  to 
have  said : 

"  I  would  have  the  highest  class  of  schools  that  teach 
industrial  or  mechanical  work  like  our  own  institute,  the 
Sheffield  School  at  Yale,  and  the  Troy  Polytechnic,  and 
the  classical  or  literary  universities  and  colleges  in  the 
same  grade,  the  graduates  of  the  mechanic  schools  con- 
ceded the  same  standing  and  as  much  social  recognition 
as  the  bachelors  of  arts  receive  from  the  world.  Tlie 
primary  and  grammar  and  high  schools  should  teach  the 
rudiments  of  mechanics  as  they  do  the  elements  of  letters, 
so  that  those  who  choose  to  enter  the  industrial  colleges 
shall  have  that  preparation  that  is  essential  to  success  in 
the  higher  courses  pursued  there." 

The  suggestion  here  made  comes  from  one  who  has  a 
correct  appreciation  of  the  value  and  purpose  of  practical 
education.  The  method  he  proposes  would  familiarize 
the  students  in  the  grammar  and  high  schools,  who  desire 
to  be  received  into  the  technical  schools,  in  the  elements 
of  mathematics,  chemistry,  drawing,  and  mechanics,  and 


MASSACHUSETTS  INSTITUTE   OF   TECHNOLOGY.  G7 

would  enable  them  to  pass  at  once  into  the  full  benefits 
of  technical  lessons.  The  importance  of  previous  prepa- 
ration is  as  obvious  in  regard  to  these  institutions  as  to 
those  of  a  merely  literary  character. 

It  is  a  marked  feature  in  this  school  that,  although  near 
the  oldest  seat  of  learning  in  this  country,  it  has  broken 
away  from  the  beaten  track  and  teaches  the  material 
forces  of  the  physical  world  instead  of  the  verbal  learning 
of  the  ancient  one.  It  recognizes  and  honors  the  vital- 
importance  of  the  new  professional  callings  and  scholar- 
ship which  arise  out  of  the  altered  social  condition  of  men, 
and  from  the  progress  of  scientific  discovery  to  which 
the  world  mainly  owes  its  present  advanced  condition.  It 
was  planned  and  organized  to  imbue  its  pupils  with  a 
proper  sense  of  and  skill  in  the  great  achievements  of 
modern  art ;  and  its  great  service  in  the  work  of  real 
knowledge  will  at  no  distant  day  elevate  it  to  the  educa- 
tional rank  and  honor  of  the  other  colleges  and  universi- 
ties. 

But  the  feature  of  this  school  which  is  particularly 
germane  to  our  subject  is  the  mechanical  branch,  with  a 
two  years'  course  which  takes  the  form  of  systematic 
shop-work,  and  which  is  designed  for  the  instruction  of 
those  who  wish  to  enter  upon  industrial  pursuits  rather 
than  to  become  scientific  engineers.  Many  can  not  afford 
the  time  and  cost  for  the  professional  courses  who  intend 
to  follow  some  one  of  the  mechanic  arts,  either  as  a  skilled 
workman  or  as  a  master-mechanic.  All  such  who  have 
completed  an  ordinary  grammar-school  course  may  enter 
the  school  of  mechanics,  and  continue  their  general  stud- 
ies in  algebra,  geometry,  physics,  drawing,  and  Frencli, 
while  a  considerable  portion  of  their  time  will  be  devoted 


68  EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

to  learning  the  use  of  tlie  typical  hand  and  machine  tools 
for  working  in  wood  and  iron.  "  The  shop- work  is  con- 
ducted upon  a  plan  designed  at  the  Imperial  Technical 
School  at  Moscow,  Russia,  and  carried  out  there  with 
most  satisfactory  results.  ...  Its  exact  and  systematic 
method  affords  the  direct  advantages  of  training  the  hand 
and  eye  for  accurate  and  efficient  service  with  the  greatest 
economy  of  time,  and  the  instruction  in  the  use  of  tools 
and  materials  has  also  proved  a  valuable  aid  in  intellect- 
ual development." 

During  the  first  year  instruction  is  given  in  carpentry 
and  joinery,  wood-turning,  pattern-making,  and  foun- 
dry-work ;  in  the  second  year,  iron-forging,  vise-work, 
and  machine-tools  work.  Nine  hours  per  week — three 
lessons  of  three  hours  each — are  devoted  to  shop-work 
and  the  balance  to  other  studies,  only  one  shop  course, 
except  in  the  case  of  special  shop-students  (for  whom 
provision  is  made),  being  carried  on  at  a  time. 

A  view  of  the  interior  of  the  workshops  is  presented 
in  the  "  Special  Eeport  of  the  Bureau  of  Education  "  on  the 
subject  of  industrial  education,  commencing  at  page  148, 
and  a  series  of  models  is  also  represented,  and  numerous 
cuts  of  pieces  used  in  the  course  of  instruction,  which 
convey  some  idea  of  their  arrangements  and  the  means 
they  contain  for  the  practical  work  of  the  school.  There 
are  sixteen  molding-benches  in  the  foundry,  combined 
with  troughs  for  holding  sand,  and  a  cupola-furnace,  and 
over  it  a  Sturtevant  fan  which  exhausts  the  heat  and  dust 
from  the  blacksmith-shop  beyond.  The  forging-shop  is 
fitted  with  eight  forges  and  two  Sturtevant  blowers  for 
pressure  and  exhausting.  The  machine-tool  shop  contains 
sixteen   engine-lathes  of  four  and  a  half  feet  bed,  four 


MASSACHUSETTS  INSTITUTE  OF  TECHNOLOGY.  69 

speed-lathes,  and  a  Brainard  milling-macliine.  Under 
each  lathe  is  a  chest  of  drawers  to  hold  the  tools  belong- 
ing to  the  student  using  it.  The  chipping,  filing,  and  fill- 
ing shop  contains  benches  with  sixteen  vises  and  other 
needful  appliances,  with  a  planer  and  grindstone. 

The  work  of  manual  instruction,  however,  commences 
in  the  shop  for  carpentry,  joinery,  wood-turning,  and  pat- 
terns ;  and  it  contains  lathes,  benches,  chests  for  holding 
the  tools,  and  saws  for  cutting  up  the  lumber  to  the 
dimensions  needed  in  the  course  of  the  work.  First 
comes  the  use  of  the  saw,  and  then  a  series  of  thirteen 
elements  follow,  such  as  a  square  joint,  a  miter-joint,  a 
dovetail  joint,  etc.,  and  each  student  makes  a  frame  to 
apply  several  of  these  elements.  This  is  succeeded  by 
turning,  pattern-making,  and  a  series  of  manipulations 
incident  to  the  course  of  instruction.  There  is  also  a 
blacksmith-shop,  and  rooms  for  chemical  and  microscopi- 
cal laboratories,  a  dark  room  for  spectroscope,  and  one 
for  pattern-weaving,  which  is  provided  with  five  looms, 
one  of  them  a  twenty-harness  and  four-shuttle  loom,  and 
another  an  improved  Jacquard-pattern  loom ;  and  it  is 
intended  to  include  other  branches  and  departments  as 
soon  as  circumstances  will  justify  it. 

It  is,  of  course,  a  matter  of  great  interest  to  deter- 
mine what  has  been  the  experience  of  the  school  and  the 
result  of  its  work.  Upon  this  point  I  take  from  the  same 
report  the  statements  of  Mr.  Thomas  Foley,  who  is  in 
charge  of  the  forging  vise-work  and  machine-tool  work. 
He  says : 

"  The  system  of  apprenticeship  at  the  present  day,  as 
a  general  rule,  amounts  to  very  little  for  the  apprentice, 
considering  the  length  of  time  he  must  devote  to  the 


70      EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

learning  of  his  trade.  He  is  kept  upon  such  work  as  will 
profit  his  employer,  who  thus  protects  himself.  If  the 
apprentice  should  be  thoroughly  taught  all  branches  in 
the  shortest  time,  he  would  be  likely  to  leave  as  soon 
as  he  could  do  better,  letting  his  employer  suffer  the  loss 
of  time  devoted  to  his  instruction. 

"  ]^ow,  it  appears  like  throwing  away  two  or  three 
years  of  one's  life  to  attain  a  knowledge  of  any  business 
that  can  be  acquired  in  the  short  space  of  twelve  or  thir- 
teen days  by  a  proper  course  of  instruction.  The  dex- 
terity that  comes  from  practice  can  be  reached  as  quickly 
after  the  twelve  days'  instruction  as  after  the  two  or  more 
years  spent,  as  an  apprentice,  under  the  adverse  circum- 
stances spoken  of  above.  The  plan  here  is  to  give  to  the 
student  the  fundamental  principles  in  such  lessons  as  will 
teach  them  most  clearly,  and  give  practice  enough  in  the 
shortest  time  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  different 
kinds  of  tools  and  various  ways  of  using  them.  For  in- 
stance, if  a  man  can  make  a  small  article  in  iron,  steel,  or 
any  other  material  perfectly  by  such  methods,  lie  can 
make  it  of  larger  proportions  with  tbe  additional  time 
and  help  required  for  such  an  undertaking.  The  same 
in  degrees  of  heat  required  for  fusing  or  welding  metals : 
if  he  can  do  it  well  in  a  lesser  degree,  he  can  certainly  do 
so  in  a  greater,  with  the  additional  facilities. 

"  After  nearly  five  years'  experience  in  the  workshops 
in  my  charge,  with  the  valuable  suggestions  of  the  pro- 
fessors so  much  interested  in  the  success  of  the  school,  we 
find  the  best  results  in  the  time  allowed  accomplished  by 
the  method  now  in  use  in  the  institute  workshops,  viz., 
three  lessons  per  week  of  three  hours  each. 

"  The  time  is  just  sufficient  to  create  a  vigorous  inter- 


MASSACHUSETTS  INSTITUTE   OF  TECHNOLOGY.  71 

est,  without  tiring ;  it  also  leaves  a  more  lasting  impres- 
sion than  by  taxing  the  physical  powers  for  a  longer 
period.  We  have  tried  four  hours  a  day,  and  find  that  a 
larger  amount  of  work  and  of  better  quality  can  be  pro- 
duced in  the  three-hour  lessons. 

"  In  order  to  give  each  student  the  proper  credit  and 
to  show  him  the  most  important  points  in  each  piece,  the 
following  method  has  been  adopted  for  inspection.  Take 
case  of  bending,  the  points  to  be  noted  by  the  student  are 
rated  as  follows : 

Dimensions 25 

Form 70 

Finish 5 


100 


"  The  most  important  point  in  this  lesson  is  the  form, 
the  next  the  dimensions,  and  the  last  the  finish.  Through 
all  the  iron-working  and  other  metals  in  each  shop  the 
same  method  is  carried  out.  Every  piece  is  made  to  cer- 
tain dimensions  laid  down  upon  the  drawing.  The  ob- 
ject of  working  to  dimensions  is  to  establish  the  necessity 
of  correctness  in  measurement,  and  is  followed  through- 
out the  course  as  a  very  essential  point.  The  most  of  the 
exercises  convey  the  idea  of  the  necessity  of  straight  lines 
in  drawing  or  lengthening  iron  and  graceful  curves  in 
bending." 

Mention  was  made  in  this  account  that  "  the  shop- work 
is  conducted  upon  a  plan  designed  at  the  Imperial  Techni- 
cal School  of  Moscow,  Russia,"  commonly  called  the  Rus- 
sian plan.  The  workshop  system  of  instruction  at  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Institute  of  Technology  is  seemingly  prepared 


72    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

with  the  same  deliberation  and  exactness.  Its  whole 
structure  and  prospective  means  of  usefulness  are  appar- 
ently suggested  by  the  Russian  exhibits  at  the  great  inter- 
national expositions. 

The  comer-stone  of  this  plan  rests  on  the  faculty  of 
induction — that  is,  a  succession  of  studies  in  regular 
sequence ;  one  step  leading  naturally  to  the  next,  to  the 
end  of  the  course.  When  the  student  understands  the 
theory  of  one  task,  and  can  perform  it  with  skill,  he  is 
put  to  doing  something  else.  His  interest  never  flags, 
because  his  work  never  becomes  mere  routine  or  weari- 
some. Single  trades  are  not  taught,  but  the  principles 
common  to  all  trades  are  assiduously  inculcated,  and  are 
at  the  same  time  illustrated  practically  in  the  workshop. 
The  student  learns  the  nature  of  the  materials  upon 
which  he  labors,  and  the  processes  by  which  articles  of 
value  are  wrought  through  mechanical  skill  and  art.  It 
is  the  same  with  the  theory  and  use  of  tools.  The  func- 
tions of  the  axe,  the  saw,  the  plane,  the  hammer,  the 
chisel,  the  file,  etc.,  are  fully  and  repeatedly  explained  by 
competent  teachers  and  skilled  workmen,  until  the  science 
of  manipulation  is  thoroughly  understood,  and  all  tlie 
varied  forms  into  which  these  simple  elements  can  be 
combined  by  mechanical  skill  and  ingenuity. 

We  know,  however,  that  mechanical  movements  have 
greatly  abridged  the  use  of  mere  hand-tools,  especially 
in  the  manufacturing  arts.  Masses  of  red-hot  iron  are 
wrought  into  the  desired  form  by  machine-hammers. 
The  needle  and  the  awl  have  been  converted  into  ma- 
chines that  close  up  seams  with  an  accuracy  beyond  the 
reach  of  human  muscle ;  and  instead  of  the  hand-shuttle, 
the  power-loom  now  weaves  our  textile  fabrics  with  all 


RUSSIAN  PLAN.     HAND-TOOLS.  73 

the  variety  and  beauty  required  by  modem  fastidious- 
ness. Machinery  drives  tiie  sharp  tool  in  the  planing-mill 
and  the  delicate  one  of  the  Waltham  watch-maker.  Not- 
withstanding this,  hand-tools  are  still  the  bases  of  all 
industrial  art.  Their  actual  use  is  still  necessary  for 
many  important  purposes.  In  fitting,  finishing,  and  mod- 
eling, they  are  indispensable  ;  and  it  is  equally  true  that 
the  contrivances  we  call  machine-tools  are  the  same  in 
principle  as  those  which  are  used  by  the  hand  of  man. 
They  have  prodigiously  increased  productive  efficiency, 
and  given  greater  accuracy  to  mechanical  constructions ; 
but  whether  the  tool  is  used  by  the  hand  or  placed  in  a 
frame,  it  is  still  a  tool,  and  presents  the  same  principle  of 
mechanics.  Says  Mr.  Knight:  "Neither  the  tool  nor 
the  machine  has  any  force  of  itself.  In  one  case  the 
force  is  in  the  arm ;  in  the  other  in  the  water,  the  steam, 
or  the  animal  that  turns  the  wheel.  The  distinctions 
which  have  been  taken  between  a  tool  and  a  machine  are 
really  so  trivial,  and  the  line  of  separation  between  one 
and  the  other  is  so  slight,  that  we  can  only  speak  of  both 
as  common  instruments  for  adding  to  the  efficiency  of 
labor."  Indeed,  we  can  hardly  form  a  mental  picture  of 
a  people  without  tools ;  and  if  we  should  forget  their  use? 
it  would  not  be  very  long  before  we  should  have  but  few 
of  the  characteristics  of  civilization,  and  all  the  mechani- 
cal giants  of  our  arts  and  industry  would  cease  to  exist 
within  a  single  generation. 

The  science  of  tools  is  therefore  imperative,  and  this 
is  realized  in  the  programmes  of  hand-labor  instruction 
which  form  so  prominent  a  feature  in  the  technical 
schools  at  the  two  Kussian  capitals,  and  is  regarded  as 
matter  of  the  utmost  importance  in  counteracting  the  de- 


74    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

teriorating  effect  of  specially  adapted  machinery  in  the 
division  of  labor. 

The  whole  plan  of  study  received  such  flattering  testi- 
monials at  the  expositions,  and  has  excited  such  a  remark- 
able degree  of  interest  among  the  friends  of  industrial 
education,  that  notwithstanding  its  length  I  feel  justified 
in  adding,  by  way  of  appendix  to  this  chapter,  the  ac- 
count of  the  school  at  Moscow  by  its  director,  M.  Victor 
Delia  Vos,  as  the  best  statement  of  the  practical  details 
and  arguments  in  favor  of  that  method. 

A  school  for  manual  instruction  was  also  established 
in  1879  as  a  permanent  branch  or  part  of  the  Washing- 
ton University  at  St.  Louis,  in  which  the  students  divide 
their  working-hours  as  nearly  as  possible  between  mental 
and  manual  exercises.  As  this  is  one  of  the  few  manual 
training-schools  which  have  been  attached  to  any  univer- 
sity or  college  in  the  United  States,  and  as,  moreover,  it 
is  claimed  to  be  a  successful  application  of  the  Russian 
plan,  it  may  be  permitted  to  present  with  some  detail  the 
programme  of  exercises  for  the  pupils. 

The  course  of  studies  covers  three  years.  In  mental 
training,  instruction  is  thorough  but  not  extended,  and 
would  probably  correspond  with  that  of  our  high-schools. 
English  language  and  literature  are  the  only  philological 
studies  in  the  course. 

In  manual  training,  special  attention  is  paid  to  draw- 
ing throughout,  embracing  three  general  divisions — free- 
hand drawing,  mechanical  drawing,  and  technical  drawing 
or  draughting — illustrating  conventional  colors  and  signs, 
and  systems  of  architecture  or  shop-drawings. 

Workshop  instruction  is  given  in  a  carpenter-shop,  a 
turning-shop,  a  machine-shop,  and  a  blacksmith-shop.    All 


WASHINGTON  UNIVERSITY   AT   ST.  LOUIS.  75 

the  machinery  is  driven  by  a  fine  Corliss  steam-engine. 
The  theory  of  workshop  instruction  is  so  completely  set 
forth  in  the  annual  catalogue  of  1881-82,  and  the  argu- 
ment in  favor  of  applying  education  to  industry,  is  so 
carefully  and  clearly  stated,  that  notwithstanding  the 
space  it  may  occupy  it  is  thought  desirable  to  give  it  at 
some  length. 

The  results  of  experience  have  abundantly  confirmed 
the  views  of  the  managers  of  the  school,  and  they  declare 
that — 

The  zeal  and  enthusiasm  of  the  students  have  been 
developed  to  a  most  gratifying  degree,  extending  into  all 
the  departments  of  work.  The  variety  afforded  by  the 
daily  programme  has  had  the  moral  and  intellectual  effect 
expected,  and  an  unusual  degree  of  sober  earnestness  has 
been  shown.  Success  in  drawing,  or  shop-work,  has  often 
had  the  effect  of  arousing  the  ambition  in  mathematics 
and  history,  and  vice  versa. 

Progress  in  the  two  subjects,  drawing  and  shop-work 
(and  we  had  little  previous  knowledge  of  what  could  be 
done  with  boys  as  young  as  these  of  the  first-year  class), 
has  been  quite  remarkable.  To  be  sure  there  was  no 
doubt  of  the  final  result,  but  the  progress  has  been  more 
rapid  than  it  seemed  reasonable  to  expect.  The  second- 
year  class  contains  already  several  excellent  draughtsmen, 
and  not  a  few  pattern-makers  of  accuracy  and  skill.  The 
habit  of  working  from  drawings  and  to  nice  measurements 
has  given  the  students  a  confidence  in  themselves  alto- 
gether new.  This  is  shown  in  the  readiness  with  which 
they  undertake  the  execution  of  small  commissions  in 
behalf  of  the  school,  or  for  the  students  of  other  depart- 
ments. In  fact,  the  increased  usefulness  of  our  students 
is  making  itself  felt  at  home,  and  in  several  instances  the 
result  has  been  the  offer  of  business  positions  too  tempt- 
ing to  be  rejected.  This  drawback,  if  it  can  be  called 
one,  the  school  must  always  suffer.     The  better  educated 


76     EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

and  trained  our  students  become,  the  stronger  will  be  the 
temptations  offered  to  them  outside,  and  the  more  diffi- 
cult it  will  be  for  us  to  hold  them  through  the  course. 

Parents  and  guardians  should  avoid  the  bad  policy  of 
injuring  the  prospects  of  a  promising  son  or  ward,  by 
grasping  a  small  present  pecuniary  advantage,  at  the  cost 
of  far  greater  rewards  in  the  future. 

Success  of  the  Russlvn  Plan. 

In  another  important  respect,  our  expectations  have 
been  more  than  realized ;  namely,  in  our  ability  to  intro- 
duce class-methods  in  giving  instructions  in  the  theory 
and  use  of  tools. 

All  divisions  in  the  shops  have  thus  far  been  limited 
to  twenty  pupils,  and,  as  a  rule,  all  members  of  a  division 
have  just  the  same  work. 

The  exercises  have  been  two  hours  long,  though 
often  the  students  have  asked  for  longer  work.  It  is  but 
due  to  the  pupils  of  the  school  to  say  that  they  have  uni- 
formly seconded  all  efforts  looking  toward  good  order  and 
good  manners.  No  little  surprise  has  been  expressed  by 
visitors,  at  seeing  how  quietly  and  independently  twenty 
boys  can  work  for  a  couple  of  hours  in  the  same  room. 
An  examination  of  the  rules,  given  on  another  page,  will 
show  the  care  and  consideration  expected  of  all  during 
shop-practice.  Though  all  classes  liandle  keen-edged 
tools,  no  serious  accident  has  happened,  and  very  rarely 
have  small  injuries  been  received. 

The  Pennsylvania  Museum  and  School  of  Industrial 
Art  provides  in  the  most  comprehensive  way  an  advanced 
education  in  the  art  of  industrial  design,  especially  for 
those  who  wish  to  take  advantage  of  its  facilities  to  ob- 
tain a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  application  of  design  to 
manufactures.  The  course  consists  of  drawing,  modeling, 
the  study  of  color,  and  its  application  and  disposition  in 


TECHNICAL  SCHOOLS.  77 

design,  both  in  tlie  round  and  in  tlie  flat.  Descriptive 
geometry,  as  connected  witli  drawing  and  design,  together 
with  free  perspective,  also  forms  a  part  of  the  course ; 
and  the  students  are  called  upon  to  prepare  original 
designs  applicable  to  industrial  purposes  in  each  of  the 
branches  studied.  There  is  no  charge  for  tuition,  and 
either  sex  maybe  applicants  for  admission. 

Several  of  the  technical  schools  in  Philadelphia  ex- 
hibit a  similar  course  of  instruction,  especially  the  Frank- 
lin Institute  and  the  Spring  Garden  Institute,  and  the 
same  plan  is  to  be  introduced  into  Girard  College.  These 
institutions  are  enlarging  their  facilities  for  promoting 
the  application  of  science  to  the  useful  purposes  of  the 
mechanic  arts,  and  are  preparing  the  means  to  teach  the 
students  in  the  use  of  tools  by  the  actual  hand-work  of 
construction. 

The  growing  interest  for  practical  education  has 
reached  some  of  the  most  distinguished  universities  and 
colleges  in  the  country,  the  Lawrence  Scientific  School 
and  the  School  of  Mining  and  Practical  Geology  at  Har- 
vard, and  similar  institutions  at  Yale,  Columbia,  and 
Princeton  show  how  grandly  the  new  philosophy  in  teach- 
ing— scientific  and  industrial — has  won  its  way  into  the 
most  conservative  and  venerable  seats  of  learning. 

Among  the  newer  generation  of  universities,  Cornell 
in  the  East  and  Michigan  University  in  the  West,  and 
the  University  of  California  on  the  Pacific,  were  founded 
upon  modern  opinions,  and  from  the  first  they  established 
courses  of  instruction,  with  university  honors,  for  profes- 
sional training  in  science  and  mechanics,  in  mathematics 
and  design,  and  their  application  to  agriculture,  to  hy- 
giene and  to  the  industrial  arts ;  and  they  have  already 


78     EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

attained  very  great  credit  by  means  of  the  work  they  have 
accomplished  in  these  departments. 

Agricultural  and  mechanical  colleges  in  the  several 
States  which  accepted  the  aid  of  the  land  grant  made 
by  Congress  for  their  special  endowment,  have  contrib- 
uted largely  to  the  movement  for  education  in  the  indus- 
trial pursuits  and  professions  of  life.  The  leading  object 
observed  in  these  institutions  is  to  teach  such  branches  of 
learning  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic 
arts.  They  w^ere  forty-eight  in  number  in  the  year  1880, 
with  several  thousand  students,  a  great  part  of  whom  pur- 
sue studies  which  deal  with  the  industries.  Nearly  all  of 
them  have  extensive  farms,  nurseries,  gardens,  and  build- 
ings for  agricultural  instruction,  and  a  large  number  have 
also  provided  and  equipped  workshops  in  which  both 
practice  and  instruction  in  the  mechanic  arts  are  system- 
atically carried  on.  The  report  of  the  Commissioner  of 
the  Bureau  of  Education  for  the  year  1880  gives  a  de- 
tailed statement  of  their  condition,  of  their  resources, 
courses  of  study,  and  attendance.  The  statistics  show  that 
during  the  previous  ten  years  the  number  of  instructors 
had  doubled,  and  the  students  increased  fourfold ;  that 
the  graduates  had  multiplied,  and  generally  entered  upon 
industrial  pursuits,  or  engaged  in  teaching.  The  whole 
number  of  schools  of  science  and  agricultural  colleges  in 
the  United  States  is  eighty-three,  with  4,421  students  in 
the  scientific  and  industrial  departments,  or  at  the  rate  of 
nine  per  cent  of  the  whole  number  of  students  in  all  the 
colleges  and  universities  pursuing  the  regular  programmes 
of  classical  learning. 

If  we  do  not  conclude  from  these  facts  that  technical 
education  has  approached  a  practical  solution  in  this  coun- 


TECHNICAL  EDUCATION.  79 

try,  we  can  at  least  declare  tliat  it  has  made  very  great 
progress  within  the  last  few  years,  and  that  the  many 
schools  for  its  diffusion  have  heen  full  of  devotion  to  the 
noble  interests  confided  to  their  care.  We  are  yet  on  the 
tlireshokl  of  these  great  educational  reforms,  and  many 
problems  and  difficulties  remain  for  definitive  adjustment. 
But  the  technical  schools  are  already  a  very  interesting 
feature  in  our  public  instruction,  and  as  they  increase  in 
material  and  moral  resources  will  work  and  win  their  way. 
The  colleges  and  universities  have  produced  Greek  and 
Latin  scholars,  or  students  in  law,  medicine,  and  theology. 
Henceforth,  thanks  to  our  teclmological  institutions,  there 
will  be  added  to  these  learned  professions,  students  in  the 
industrial  economics  of  life.  This  is  great  progress ;  tech- 
nical education  is  an  existing  fact.  It  is  solidly  estab- 
lished. Public  opinion  goes  with  it ;  and  it  represents  a 
notable  reform  in  our  educational  methods.  I  trust  the 
time  is  not  far  distant  when  our  superior  seats  of  learning 
will  have  attached  to  them  mechanical  branches,  so  that 
persons  who  have  a  mechanical  bias  can  follow  their  in- 
clination under  the  instruction  of  the  most  highly  culti- 
vated mechanicians  in  the  world. 

It  must,  however,  be  acknowledged  that  much  of  the 
usefulness  of  these  institutions  depends  upon  their  inti- 
mate relation  to  the  industries  of  the  country.  It  is  feared 
in  some  quarters  that  there  is  a  tendency  to  produce  men 
with  a  high  order  of  mechanical  knowledge,  but  who  can 
not  use  the  knowledge  they  possess  because  they  have  no 
practical  skill  in  applying  the  principles  they  have  learned  ; 
and  who  are,  therefore,  as  much  out  of  place  in  a  work- 
shop as  any  other  persons  whose  hands  have  never  been 
soiled  by  the  handling  of  a  tool.     It  is  the  application 


80    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

of  mecliaiiical  studies  that  is  most  needed,  and  it  is  this 
adaptation  in  practice  wliich  alone  will  save  those  stud- 
ies from  being  viewed  as  a  mere  useless  accomplishment. 
The  deficiencies  in  our  present  system  of  education 
are  said  to  consist  in  cramming  the  pupils  with  a  great 
amount  of  indigestible  information  which  can  be  turned 
to  no  practical  account ;  and  the  same  objection  is  even 
now  occasionally  heard  in  regard  to  technical  education, 
for  it  is  alleged  that  it  communicates  an  incoherent  mass 
of  science  without  any  skill  in  the  workmanship  to  which 
it  is  applicable.  Perhaps  it  is  difficult  to  describe  techni- 
cal education  ;  but  one  thing  is  sure,  the  pupils  ought  to 
be  instructed  in  practice  as  well  as  in  theory,  so  that  they 
will  not  look  down  upon  the  application  of  their  studies 
to  the  manual  work  which  gives  them  their  highest 
value.* 

The  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  is  an  ex- 
ample of  such  practical  instruction,  because  in  addition  to 
the  study  of  science,  drawing,  and  composition,  nine  hours 
shop-work  every  week  is  required  of  each  class  in  carpen- 
try, joinery,  wood-turning,  pattern-making,  vise-work, 
forging,  foundry-work,  and  machine-tool  work  in  a  course 

*  The  object  of  technical  education  is  to  teach  the  actual  method  of 
working  some  particular  trade  to  persons  engaged  or  about  to  be  engaged 
in  that  trade,  but  such  method  is  to  be  taught  in  a  scientific  way,  and  theo- 
retically rather  than  practically.  Where  practical  work  can  be  introduced 
to  let  the  students  test  the  theory  as  they  go  on,  the  technical  instruction  is 
by  so  much  the  better.  By  some  persons  it  is  held  that  unless  some  practi- 
cal manual  work  is  done  by  the  students,  the  instruction  is  not  really  tech- 
nical ;  but  this  seems  to  me  to  restrict  the  term  too  much.  But  be  this  as  it 
may,  it  is  the  essence  of  technical  education  to  teach  the  theory  of  a  trade, 
and,  if  possible,  to  illustrate  it  by  practical  work  at  the  same  time,  in  order 
that  the  student  may  be  both  theoretically  and  practically  familiar  with  the 
business  he  intends  to  follow. — Address  of  W.  JS.  R.  McLaren, 


TECHNICAL  AND  PRACTICAL  EDUCATION.  81 

of  two  years.  The  students  go  fortli  from  the  institution 
with  something  better  than  theories  of  this  or  that  school, 
or  of  this  or  that  phin.  They  are  prepared  for  practical 
work  in  their  trade  or  profession,  and  are  not  required  to 
spend  half  their  time  in  unlearning  what  they  have  been 
theoretically  taught  at  school.  Many  persons  think  that 
there  can  be  no  real  technical  education  unless  the  sci- 
ences in  the  programme  of  instruction  can  be  constantly 
tested  in  the  laboratory  or  the  workshop.  Quite  a  num- 
ber of  our  schools  are  approximating  to  tliis  connection, 
such  as  we  have  seen  in  the  Free  Institute  at  Worcester, 
and  the  industrial  department  of  the  Washington  Univer- 
sity at  St.  Louis.  It  will  be  largely  due  to  examples  of 
this  kind  that  the  proper  methods  of  technical  education 
will  be  universally  adopted  in  the  United  States,  for  it 
now  seems  as  if  this  was  the  only  system  from  which  the 
best  results  can  be  expected.* 

There  are  also  several  institutions  intended  for  young 
women  only ;  such  as  the  Cooper  Institute  of  Design  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  and  the  School  of  Design  for 
Women  in  Philadelphia.  It  is  a  gratifying  evidence  that 
the  supposed  unwillingness  of  man  to  allow  women  equal 

*  As  illustrating  the  progress  made  in  establishing  industrial  schools,  I 
learn  since  the  text  was  written  that  the  Commercial  Club  of  Chicago  have 
subscribed  §100,000  for  one  upon  the  plan  of  the  St.  Louis  Training-School ; 
that  Cleveland  is  also  taking  steps  for  raising  money  for  the  same  purpose ; 
and  at  Terre  Haute  $500,000  have  been  donated  for  a  similar  institution  in 
that  town  by  a  private  citizen.  Manual  training  is  gradually  making  its 
way  into  the  State  University  of  Georgia,  and  Minnesota  has  placed  indus- 
trial schools  and  colleges  upon  the  same  footing  as  respects  public  support. 

In  a  short  time  after  the  training-school  has  been  in  general  operation, 
we  shall  have  intelligence  and  fineness  of  work  which  those  who  have  been 
brought  up  under  the  present  slip-shod  method  of  learning  a  trade  never 
dreamed  of. 

5 


82    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

educational  advantages  exists  only  in  tradition ;  since  the 
first  of  these  schools  was  founded  by  the  generosity  of 
Peter  Cooper,  and  the  other  has  been  aided  through  all 
its  difficulties  by  the  liberality  of  private  citizens,  and  the 
devoted  labors  of  T.  AY.  Braidwood,  the  principal  of  the 
school  and  its  chief  instructor.  The  object  of  both  is  the 
same  :  "  The  systematic  training  of  young  women  in  the 
practice  of  art,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  its  scientific  prin- 
ciples, with  a  view  of  qualifying  them  to  impart  to  others 
a  careful  art-education,  and  to  develop  its  application  to 
the  common  uses  of  life,  and  its  relations  to  the  require- 
ments of  trade  and  manufactures." 

In  the  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  institutions  va- 
riously denominated  schools,  seminaries,  and  colleges  re- 
ported by  the  Commissioner  of  Education  in  1880  for  the 
higher  instruction  of  women,  there  is  the  greatest  diversity 
of  means,  methods,  and  resources.  Not  a  few  of  them 
provide  for  college  courses  of  study,  but  it  is  impossible 
to  learn  to  what  extent  they  have  recognized  the  impor- 
tance of  industrial  education  beyond  the  fact  that  music, 
drawing,  art,  and  popular  science  are  placed  in  their  true 
rank  among  the  studies  to  be  pursued  in  all  of  them. 

Good  sense  and  equity  require  that  every  desirable 
facility  should  be  afforded  to  complete  the  education  of 
woman  according  to  her  prospects  in  the  future,  and  such 
as  will  form  her  judgment,  correct  her  ideas,  and  provide 
her  with  some  skill  to  fill  the  occupations  to  which  she  is 
destined.  Give  her  the  appropriate  instruction,  and  it 
will  be  for  her  to  do  the  rest.  Special  schools  for  the 
practical  education  of  woman  are  founded  upon  inevitable 
qualities  in  lier  will,  disposition,  and  bodily  conformation. 
These  constitute  a  rule  of  Nature  against  which  human 


SPHERE   OF  WOMAN'S  EDUCATION.  83 

laws  will  not  prevail ;  and  it  is  becoming  clear  that 
methods  and  routines  ought  to  be  determined  by  what  is 
best  adapted  to  her  condition  and  wants.  For  thousands 
of  years  she  has  moved  in  a  limited  circle — at  iirst  as  a 
drudge,  and  afterward  in  domestic  life  and  dependent  cir- 
cumstances. These  schools  give  her  a  chance ;  they  are 
like  the  opening  of  a  new  world  to  young  women  all  over 
the  land,  who  have  to  earn  their  living.  They  afford  them 
an  opportunity  of  obtaining  an  education  suitable  to  their 
circumstances  and  the  times  in  which  they  live.  It  is  very 
fine  to  speak  of  home  as  the  only  appropriate  sphere  of 
the  sex ;  and  all  will  agree  that  their  highest  and  divinest 
gifts  are  displayed  when  they  are  the  center  of  a  domes- 
tic household  made  harmonious  by  their  wisdom,  discre- 
tion, and  love.  There  is  no  sight  more  beautiful.  But 
nothing  will  make  home  more  delightful  than  when  its 
chief  ornament  has  received  the  advantages  of  a  practical 
education.  Every  lady  should  be  taught  something  useful. 
It  will  enable  the  wife  to  make  the  home  more  attractive. 
She  will  be  more  intelligent,  a  better  companion,  and  more 
loved  as  a  mother  or  as  a  friend.  Her  dormant  faculties 
will  be  drawn  out  and  cultivated,  makinor  her  stronger  for 
good ;  and,  when  the  storms  of  life  come,  she  can  brave 
its  dangers,  and  struggle  successfully  with  its  disasters. 
There  is  scarcely  a  sadder  sight  than  the  condition  of 
a  woman  who  has  been  taught  only  in  the  fashionable 
methods  of  the  day,  when  misfortune  has  swept  away  her 
accustomed  means  of  ease  and  luxury.  Her  delicate  lin- 
gers which  have  been  used  only  for  the  display  of  rings, 
and  her  soft  white  hands  can  not,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten, 
be  used  for  practical  purposes.  She  can  select  no  pursuit, 
for  she  knows  none.    And  while  Nature  calls  for  work  of 


84:     EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

infinitely  varied  character,  suitable  for  the  support  of  all 
her  offspring,  this  poor  woman  knows  no  kind  of  useful 
labor. 

Besides  these,  there  are  multitudes  of  young  women 
who  have  to  earn  a  living  before  getting  married,  and 
many  more  who  never  get  married  at  all.  They  do  not 
wish  to  spend  their  lives  in  domestic  service,  and  they  re- 
fuse to  be  a  burden  upon  relatives  who  can  ill  afford  them 
a  support.  Xow,  if  the  proper  course  is  taken  to  render 
them  competent,  tliere  is  almost  an  infinite  number  of 
employments  which  are  suitable  for  their  sex,  and  upon 
which  they  can  successfully  enter.  Indeed,  they  can 
almost  choose  tlieir  own  pursuit,  even  to  learning  a  trade. 
Many  prefer  to  study  the  arts,  some  take  to  science,  and 
others  turn  to  teaching.  Not  a  few  of  the  employments 
that  have  been  considered  masculine  are  simple  and  easily 
acquired,  and  offer  attractions  to  woman's  industry  and 
taste.  It  is  admitted  that  she  has  exliibited  skill,  and  pa- 
tience, and  sublime  fortitude  in  family  concerns  and  trials, 
and  any  man  would  be  foolish  who  would  not  repose  con- 
fidence in  her  judgment,  clear-sightedness,  economy,  and 
business  ability  in  matters  appertaining  to  domestic  life. 
Why,  then,  may  she  not  exhibit  the  same  qualities  in 
wider  fields  of  usefulness  ?  In  pecuniary  transactions  she 
can  be  trusted  beyond  man.  Why,  then,  should  she  not 
liave  a  place  in  the  counting-room  and  the  banking-house  ? 
We  know  that  many  women  have  very  great  business 
capacity.  Why,  then,  may  they  not  be  employed  in  many 
branches  of  trade  and  commerce  ?  A  woman  is  not  ex- 
pected to  perform  much  out-door  labor,  but  her  skill  in 
agriculture  is  undeniable.  She  perceives  quickly  and  acts 
from    intuition.      She  understands   easily  the  nature  of 


SPHERE   OF   WOMAN'S   EDUCATION   AND    WORK.  85 

plants,  but  having  no  scope  she  expends  her  care  upon  the 
flowers  of  the  garden,  the  greenhouse,  or  the  orcliard. 
She  is  a  natural  horticulturist  and  cultivator.  Fruit-trees, 
shrubs  and  parterres,  foliage  and  verdant  lawns,  and  all 
the  graceful  caprice  of  trees  and  creeping  herbage,  present 
to  her  appreciative  eye  the  most  pleasing  and  fanciful 
combinations.  She  knows,  as  if  by  instinct,  how  to  care 
for  growing  animals  and  fowls,  and  how  herbs  should  be 
gathered,  and  fruits  ripened  and  packed  and  marketed. 

And  then,  again,  the  whole  field  of  decorative  art  is 
open  to  her  taste  and  genius.  Her  capacity  to  occupy  it 
is  intimated  by  her  love  of  ornament,  her  appreciation  of 
graceful  forms,  of  charming  contrasts,  of  beautiful  fres- 
coes and  paintings,  and  of  elegant  furniture  and  draperies. 
The  refined  state  of  the  decorative  arts  is  conspicuous  in 
the  elaborate  splendor  lavished  upon  the  dwellings  of  the 
rich  and  refined  residents  in  our  towns  and  cities.  The 
principles  of  design  upon  which  they  depend  can  be  ac- 
quired by  the  exercise  of  ordinary  care  and  diligence ; 
and  if  women  were  equally  willing  to  carry  on  this  work, 
they  are  as  competent  as  men,  and  jjerhaps  could  excel 
them  in  these  beautiful  productions. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  study  of  architecture. 
The  act  of  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  its  elementary  prin- 
ciples involves  endowments  with  which  woman  is  finely 
gifted.  She  draws  and  designs  with  ease  and  elegance. 
Eminently  perceptive  and  poetical,  she  could  interpret 
her  ideas  into  domestic  buildings,  and  imbue  them  with  a 
kind  of  life,  and  make  their  walls  and  proportions  speak 
of  her  imaginative  and  romantic  feelings.  Our  edifices 
would  receive  a  more  pleasing  combination  than  is  pro- 
duced by  the  reasoning  faculty,  which  is  alone  exercised 


86     EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

by  man  in  his  building  designs.  She  would  feel  the  best 
thing  to  be  done  in  the  number  and  arrangement  of  apart- 
ments, for  who  but  a  woman  can  know  a  woman's  wants  ? 
Yet  she  has  been  completely  ignored  in  building  the 
house,  and  hence  "we  behold  in  almost  every  dwelling 
clumsy  proportions  and  styles  more  or  less  vulgar  and 
false.  Indeed,  the  finest  structures  are  often  the  most 
destitute  of  any  sense  of  comfort.  Let  woman  be  trained 
and  practiced  in  household  architecture,  and  you  would 
see  sentiment  where  there  is  now  a  dry  detail  of  brick  and 
stone,  and  a  charming  niche  or  a  cozy  recess  in  every 
empty  space  ;  and  her  appreciation  of  beautiful  forms,  of 
graceful  details  and  picturesque  outlines  would  appear  in 
the  mansion  where  she  herself  is  the  cynosure  of  all  within 
its  circle. 

Besides  these,  there  are  drawing,  wood-carving,  mod- 
eling, ceramic  painting,  and  other  branches  of  art,  pot- 
tery, the  whole  field  of  designing  and  ornament,  working 
in  leather,  design,  repousse^  painting,  and  an  indefinite 
number  of  employments  suited  to  her  capabilities  and 
health,  all  of  which  are  made  possible  by  these  training- 
schools  for  women,  showing  that  there  is  no  sex  in  work 
except  ability  and  adaptation. 

New  trades  are  opened  every  year  to  women.  The 
census  of  1880  shows  that  they  are  employed  in  a  great 
variety  of  work ;  such  as  the  manufacture  of  artificial 
feathers  and  flowers,  book-binding,  shoe-work,  tailoring, 
dress-making,  confectionery-work,  twine-making,  corset- 
making,  fireworks,  canning  vegetables  and  fruits,  dressing 
skins,  making  hosiery,  matches,  cigars  and  cigarettes,  mod- 
el-making, photogra])hers,  telegraphers,  plumbers,  pipe, 
elastic,  and  pocket-book  makers,  shirt-makers,  pump  and 


SPHERE   OF   WOMAN'S   EDUCATION   AND   WORK.  87 

refrigerator  makers.  There  are  also  female  doctors, 
preacliers,  insurance  agents,  and  trained  nurses  for  the 
sick,  type-setters,  writers,  authors  and  poets,  artists, 
painters  and  sculptors,  bank  presidents,  cashiers,  and  treas- 
urers.* Many  women,  young  and  old,  are  doing  good 
work,  and  earning  good  wages,  in  these  various  employ- 
ments. And  the  better  the  work  the  more  it  pays.  No 
work  is  so  costly  as  cheap  work,  and  to  this  end  the  girls 
should  have  an  education  suited  to  these  new  opportuni- 
ties, and  we  ouglit  to  be  sufficiently  liberal  and  enlight- 
ened to  see  that  they  also  get  a  general  industrial  training. 
Says  Emily  Faithful,  in  a  recent  conversation  with  a  gen- 
tleman : 

My  "  policy,"  in  short,  has  been  simply  this :  I  started 
from  the  proposition  that  women  are  human  beings,  in- 
dividuals, with  individual  needs  and  rights.  To  supply 
these  needs  and  maintain  these  rights  the  world's  work,  its 
remunerative  industries,  must  be  open  to  them  as  freely  as 
to  men.  I  do  not  underrate  marriage  nor  domestic  life. 
I  think  it  is  the  highest  and  happiest  state  for  any  woman, 
when  it  is  entered  into  under  the  proper  conditions  and 
relations.  But  many  women  have  no  vocation  for  domes- 
tic life  ;  many  who  have  the  vocation  have  not  the  oppor- 
tunity. To  them  the  industries  must  be  opened,  and  to 
how  many  a  woman  the  ability  to  be  herself  a  producer 
increases  the  opportunity  for  marriage  by  increasing  her 
heritage  of  desirable  qualities!      Her  ability  to  earn  is 

*  In  his  " Ea?y-Cliair "  gossip,  in  "Harper's  Magazine"  for  August, 
1883,  Mr.  Curtis  refers  to  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  where  it  is  announced 
that  there  are  two  hundred  and  eighty-four  occupations  open  to  women, 
and  that  251,152  women  are  earning  their  own  living  in  these  occupations, 
receiving  from  $150  to  $3,000  each  every  year.  This  computation  does  not 
include  amateurs,  or  mothers  and  daughters  in  the  household,  and,  of  course, 
excludes  domestic  service. 


88     EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

equivalent  to  a  dower — if  we  look  at  marriage  from  a 
purely  prosaic  point  of  ^'iew. 

The  whole  subject  of  industrial  education,  in  its  rela- 
tion to  woman,  is  here  suggested,  and  in  a  great  measure 
begun.  A  false  standard  of  social  life  has  not  permitted 
her  to  engage  in  any  truly  useful  labor,  or  even  to  teach 
her  children  in  tlie  smallest  detail  of  practical  knowledge. 
This  absurdity  will  soon  have  a  severe  gauntlet  to  run, 
and  something  more  will  be  required  of  our  ladies  than 
to  play  on  the  piano  and  make  a  formal  round  of  calls, 
while  the  husband  is  deeply  immersed  in  his  business 
pursuits.  Let  no  one  think  that  the  author  is  unfriendly 
to  the  refinements  of  polished  society,  or  disposed  to  un- 
derrate the  importance  of  its  graces  and  embellishments. 
But  surely  all  ought  to  consent  at  this  time  to  give  quite 
as  much  regard  to  the  special  training  of  women  in  the 
various  departments  of  useful  labor  for  which  she  maybe 
fitted,  as  to  any  other  subject  affecting  her  welfare,  and 
that  this  is  among  the  questions  of  the  day  which  require 
an  unbiased  and  enlightened  consideration. 

Indeed,  many  of  the  questions  concerning  the  liberal 
education  of  women  have  an  answer  in  these  noble  institu- 
tions, and  there  is  now  a  tendency  in  public  opinion  in 
favor  of  their  admission  to  every  educational  advantage 
enjoyed  by  the  other  sex.  In  England,  colleges  have 
been  established  for  girls  with  college  courses  of  study, 
identically  the  same  as  those  pursued  in  colleges  for  young 
men,  and  the  great  Universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
have  provided  for  the  university  education  of  women,  and 
the  London  University  makes  no  distinction  in  sex  in  be- 
stowing its  degrees.     In  the  United  States  we  find  some 


SPHERE   OF   WOMAN'S  EDUCATION  AND   WORK.  S9 

of  our  colleges  taking  the  same  course,  and  in  others  they 
are  admitted  on  the  same  footing  to  the  same  studies,  and 
even  to  the  same  classes  as  the  boys.  We  do  not  stop 
now  to  discuss  the  problem  of  co-education  in  superior 
courses  of  instruction ;  that  is  being  worked  out  as  a  prac- 
tical question  in  several  institutions,  and  I  have  not  the 
imprudence  to  engage  in  that  discussion  at  present.  It 
may  be  remarked,  however,  that  the  general  result  shows 
that  the  dangers  predicted  from  co-education  have  not 
been  realized,  and  that  the  system  is  still  viewed  as  favor- 
able to  both  sexes.  This  is  the  conclusion  reported  at  the 
Cornell  University,  and  at  the  Michigan  University,  where 
co-education  has  existed  for  several  years. 

This,  however,  is  not  the  end  of  the  question.  No 
doubt  the  girls  will  compare  favorably  with  the  boys,  and 
quite  likely  excel  them,  especially  where  the  studies  are 
of  a  character  to  exercise  the  memory.  The  friends  of 
co-education  have  our  sincere  sympathies,  but  we  fear 
they  overlook  a  very  material  consideration ;  and  that  is, 
whether  the  college  courses  of  studies  constitute  a  true 
and  wise  system  of  instruction  for  girls.  It  is  a  pro- 
found conviction  pervading  society  at  this  time,  that  the 
greatest  ignorance  of  every  useful  art  or  profitable  acquire- 
ment marks  the  notorious  incompetency  of  young  men 
who  have  received  a  college  degree.  They  have  spent  the 
precious  period  of  youth  in  painful  and  laborious  studies 
which,  in  the  progress  of  modern  learning,  have  become 
obsolete.  The  connection  between  any  period  of  civiliza- 
tion and  its  accompanying  methods  of  education  should 
be  as  true  of  this  age  as  of  any  one  that  has  preceded  it. 
This  is  an  era  of  utilitarianism,  and  perhaps  this  country 
is  very  much  so.     Education  should,  therefore,  be  com- 


90     EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

paratively  utilitarian.  But  it  is  thought  by  many  that  we 
are  given  over  to  an  excess  of  utilitarianism  and  scientific 
realism,  at  the  expense  of  refinement  and  beauty.  This 
exaggerated  attention  to  the  useful  will  not  appear  to  be 
unfriendly  to  the  ideal  when  we  bear  in  mind  that  when- 
ever the  arts  of  necessity  have  been  appreciated,  sculj^t- 
ure,  painting,  design,  and  ornamentation  have  flourished 
most,  and  something  of  their  beauty  has  been  transferred 
to  the  common  articles  and  uses  of  life.  The  remedy  for 
industrial  realism,  remarks  a  writer  in  the  "Revue  des 
Deux  Mondes,"  is  to  make  things  beautiful  as  well  as  use- 
ful, and  of  scientific  realism  to  teach  the  true  intelligence 
of  things,  and  their  immediate  applicability  to  the  pur- 
poses of  human  life.  Yictor  Cousin  thinks  that  the  fine 
arts  are  too  disinterested  and  sublimated  for  use.  They 
are  only  for  beauty,  and  to  inspire  a  sense  of  the  ideal. 
Fortunately,  he  limits  them  to  three  only — painting,  sculpt- 
ure, and  poetry ;  and  these,  he  thinks,  should  be  entirely 
emancipated  from  everything  except  the  unity  and  grand- 
eur of  art.  This  does  not  agree  with  the  ideas  of  classical 
art,  for  the  Greeks,  who  were  the  founders  of  all  art,  in- 
cluded music,  rhetoric,  letters,  eloquence,  philosophy,  and 
the  dance  among  the  Sacred  Nine,  and  made  them  all  co- 
ordinate with  the  needs  and  servitudes  of  life.  They  con- 
stituted a  practical  part  of  Greek  education,  and  entered 
into  almost  everything  of  value  or  interest  in  their  daily 
history. 

The  same  exclusivcness  has  been  claimed  by  Auguste 
Comte  for  the  influence  of  science,  who  says  that  the  prog- 
ress of  analysis  has  tended  constantly  to  specialties  in  sci- 
ence, which  ends  too  often  in  extinguishing  the  ardor  for 
science  which  should  be  cultivated  for  itself  alone. 


SPHERE   OF   WOMAN'S   EDUCATION    AND   WORK.  91 

It  would  appear,  from  tlie  reflections  of  these  philoso- 
phers, that  all  attempts  to  apply  fine  art  or  high  science 
would  be  to  invade  their  proper  domain,  and  to  destroy 
the  sense  of  the  ideal;  and  that  to  employ  them  for  any 
useful  purpose,  under  the  pretext  of  imitation  or  design, 
would  be  to  degrade  the  standard  of  their  infinite  perfec- 
tion. On  the  other  hand,  such  thinkers  as  Helmholtz, 
Tyndall,  Huxley,  and  Spencer  teach  that  practice  has  its 
sources  in  the  most  elevated  and  fruitful  speculations ; 
and  we  know  that  the  greatest  artists  have  embellished 
useful  articles  with  the  work  of  their  hands.  All  knowl- 
edge is  valuable  only  as  it  contributes  to  the  elevation  and 
happiness  of  man,  and  all  art  is  useful  because  a  necessary 
requisite  to  our  social  advancement.  They  warm  the 
genius  and  the  heart  by  their  exquisite  beauty,  and  evolve 
those  delicate  perceptions  which  lead  to  cultivation  and 
refinement.  Herbert  Spencer  has  remarked  that,  without 
painting,  sculpture,  music,  poetry,  and  the  emotions  pro- 
duced by  natural  beauty  of  every  kind,  life  would  lose 
half  its  charm.  So  far  from  useless  are  the  training  and 
gratification  of  the  tastes,  that  the  time  will  come  when 
they  will  occupy  a  much  greater  share  of  human  life  than 
now. 

But  to  return  from  this  brief  digression  to  the  superior 
instruction  for  girls.  Now,  if  its  object  is  to  prepare  them 
for  useful  work,  and  for  a  life  of  self-help  and  self-sup- 
port, certainly  the  study  of  a  dead  language  can  not  be  the 
best  preparation  for  either.  To  get  out  a  few  lines  of 
Latin  verse  by  aid  of  a  lexicon,  or  to  be  able  to  parse  an 
Athenian  apothegm  in  the  original,  with  a  Greek  grammar 
in  hand,  is  a  very  inadequate  return  for  the  years  of  toil 
that  must  be  employed  in  the  acquisition.    The  more  the 


92     EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

collegian  studies,  the  less  lie  knows  of  real  things.  He 
can  turn  his  hand  to  nothing  unless  it  be  to  teach  others 
in  the  same  blind  way,  or  to  crowd  his  way  into  profes- 
sions already  full  of  those  unfitted  for  them,  often  from 
this  very  cause.  To  be  fed  as  a  clerk,  or  make  a  living 
by  his  wits,  is  not  the  end  for  which  one  should  undergo 
so  much  drilling.  To  compel  girls  to  go  through  this 
labyrinth  of  language,  with  a  modicum  of  logic  and  rhet- 
oric, is  progress  backward,  and  the  reverse  of  a  true  re- 
form. Besides,  one  can  study  the  Greeks  without  study- 
ing Greek.  "We  admit  that  Greek  civilization  is  imper- 
ishable, because  it  was  original  and  natural.  We  know 
that  it  continues  to  influence  modem  society  because  it 
seized  upon  the  spirit  of  humanity  once  for  all.  We  wit- 
ness its  intimate  incorporation  in  our  refinement  and 
habits.  Our  sculptors  study  its  marble  legacies ;  our 
scholars  honor  its  philosophy ;  and  many  of  the  precepts 
of  our  daily  life  have  come  down  to  us  from  its  wisdom. 
The  political  systems  which  ruled  its  little  divisions,  the 
intellectual  characteristics  of  the  people,  their  social  and 
religious  institutions,  their  history  and  achievements  in 
arts  and  letters,  have  been  elaborated  again  and  again  by 
historians,  philosophers,  and  translators  in  all  languages. 
From  these  we  can  learn  all  that  is  essential  to  know. 
The  argument  that  the  classics  should  be  pursued  for  their 
power  and  infiuence  as  an  intellectual  discipline,  without 
regard  to  any  other  criterion  of  their  usefulness,  has  only 
the  prejudices  of  centuries  to  support  it.  The  question 
of  education  to-day  is,  not  only  to  discipline  the  mind,  but 
to  prepare  men  for  the  active  spheres  of  industrial  and 
scientific  pursuits,  to  augment  their  eflScacy  in  producing 
wealth,  to  exert  an  influence  in  checking  evil,  and  pro- 


SPHERE   OF  WOMAN'S  EDUCATION   AND  WORK.  93 

rooting  good.  Few  boys,  in  their  after-career,  ever  apply 
a  Greek  or  Latin  quotation  to  any  practical  purpose.  To 
men  who  intend  to  become  professional  scholars  classical 
studies  will  probably  be  useful,  and  certainly  will  set  off 
their  accomplishments  with  great  decorative  effect.  Let, 
therefore,  ample  provision  be  made  for  their  critical  study 
in  our  universities.  But  I  respectfully  submit  that  the 
time  has  arrived  when  they  should  be  optional  studies 
only,  and  should  no  longer  be  a  condition  of  admission. 
But  a  little  more  of  this  in  the  sequel. 

In  primary  education  the  lessons  are  necessarily  the 
same  for  both,  but  it  seems  to  be  somewhat  different  when 
it  is  a  matter  of  superior  education.  The  question  of  com- 
mon studies  is  a  very  different  one  from  that  of  the  equal- 
ity of  sexes.  Boys  and  girls  are  of  the  same  race,  they  live 
on  the  same  air,  eat  the  same  food,  and  are  subject  to  the 
same  laws  of  life  and  health,  and  yet  a  boy  is  a  boy,  and  a 
girl  is  a  girl,and  I  think  that  women  must  get  over  the  idea 
of  pursuing  a  study  simply  because  men  choose  to  do  it, 
or  are  compelled  to  do  it.  While  I  would  exclude  woman 
from  no  work  or  study  she  might  prefer,  yet  there  are 
some  in  which  her  peculiar  powers  and  aptitudes  fit  her  to 
excel,  and  of  which  her  circumstances  in  after-life  require 
the  constant  application.  For  instance,  the  great  majority 
of  women  are  destined  to  become  wives  and  mothers. 
The  arts  of  domestic  life,  and  the  correlated  sciences  will, 
therefore,  have  a  bearing,  not  only  upon  their  whole  life, 
but  upon  that  of  their  families.  Aside  from  household 
duties,  there  are  a  multitude  of  questions  in  domestic 
hygiene,  physiology,  and  in  regard  to  the  dwelling,  the 
diet,  the  clothing,  and  their  relation  to  the  climate,  and 
the  season,  and  the  atmosphere,  which  will  open  up  a  field 


94:    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

of  tlie  most  splendid  and  useful  information.  The  educa- 
tion of  women,  in  tliis  general  knowledge  of  practical 
principles,  presents  a  wide  contrast  to  the  mental  training 
of  a  girl  in  an  ordinary  boarding-school.  At  a  meeting 
of  the  French  Academy,  Dr.  Dally  read  a  paper,  not  long 
since,  in  which  he  showed  how  careless  and  forced  habits 
of  posture  produce  deformity  of  the  vertebrse  of  the  neck 
and  loins,  and  finally  a  curvature  of  the  spine.  He  adds 
that  this  is  more  usual  and  prolonged  with  girls,  for  they 
are,  generally  speaking,  required  to  remain  seated  for 
longer  periods  than  boys,  and  the  germ  of  some  distortion 
is  often  left  for  life,  and  that  these  ills  are  more  likely  to 
occur  at  the  period  of  youth,  when  the  bony  structure  has 
not  acquired  the  strength  to  properly  support  the  rapidly- 
increasing  weight  of  the  body. 

These  remarks  are  confirmed  by  observation,  and 
in  ninety-nine  cases  in  a  hundred  the  tendency  to  distor- 
tion was  formerly  given  when  the  girl  was  under  the  dis- 
cipline of  a  school  for  "  young  ladies." 

No  doubt  sounder  principles  now  very  generally  pre- 
vail in  our  schools.  An  English  traveler  in  this  country 
writes  as  follows  to  a  London  paper :  "  Last  fall  and  win- 
ter I  visited  many  of  the  schools  and  colleges  in  the 
United  States.  I  was  especially  struck  with  Mount 
Ilolyoke  College,  in  Massachusetts.  The  curriculum  of 
study  there  is  sound  and  deep,  rather  than  extensive, 
while  the  household  work  is  performed  by  the  girls.  I 
never  saw  a  brighter  or  healthier-looking  set  of  young 
women  in  any  school  or  college  anywhere." 

A  great  change  is  observable.  It  is  becoming  clear  in 
the  light  of  common  sense,  that  a  knowledge  of  the  laws 
of  health  and  of  the  science  of  domestic  life  are  equally 


WOMEN'S  EDUCATION.  95 

invaluable  to  woman  as  a  mother  and  a  wife.  Women 
must  do  much  for  their  own  sex.  They  know  better  than 
man  its  trials,  its  wants,  and  aspirations.  A  fuller  educa- 
tion will  develop  their  faculties,  and  there  seems  no  reason 
why  a  college  system  could  not  be  adapted  for  their  in- 
struction. I  do  not  believe  that  the  industrial  education 
of  women  will  lessen  the  grace  or  refinement  of  their 
nature,  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  will  enable  them  to  enter 
upon  new  fields  of  duty,  develop  their  natural  aptitudes, 
apply  their  powers  to  such  acquisitions  as  will  be  most 
useful  and  interesting,  and  at  the  same  time  qualify  them 
to  fulfill  all  the  relations  arising  out  of  domestic  circum- 
stances.   (See  Appendix.) 


CHAPTER  YI. 

Education  for  hand  and  eye — Method  of  instruction  at  Athens — Public 
schools — Improved  methods — Main  facts  in  regard  to  public  schools — 
Optimistic  views  of  the  same — Other  lessons  than  those  of  the  school- 
room— Statement  of  the  same — Our  obligations  to  the  public  schools — 
Want  of  practical  education — Manual  training  a  necessary  part  of — For- 
eign designers  and  workmen — Jewelers'  Association — Speech  at  banquet 
of — Necessity  of  art-education  to  American  artisan — Mechanic  arts  pass- 
ing out  of  our  hands  — Eush  for  clerical  employment — An  illustration 
of  their  dependence — Decorative  art — Science  applied  to  necessities — 
Telegraphy,  photography,  aniline — Artistic  employments,  their  effect 
— Education  enhanced  by  manual  exercise — Eclectic  education — The 
highest  aim — Intellectual  culture  not  alone  education — Our  physical 
consdtution — Description  of — Association  of,  in  elevating  the  mind — 
In  expressing  its  ideas  in  tangible  forms — Their  intimate  co-operation 
— Equality  of  education,  the  true  method — Standard  of  education  in 
Europe — Commensurate  education — Duty  of  the  State — Conclusions 
from,  classified — First,  second,  third,  fourth — Technological  education 
— Not  for  the  mass  of  children — Object  of  studies — Right  of  the  State 
— American  Institute  of  Instruction — Use  of  tools — Reforms  in  mat- 
ters of  education  difficult — Science  in  the  colleges. 

However  much  we  may  differ  about  the  causes  or  the 
remedies,  it  is  manifest  that  this  branch  of  education  lias 
been  entirely  overlooked  until  quite  recently.  Intellect- 
ual studies,  as  they  are  called,  have  alone  been  thought 
worthy  of  being  introduced  into  our  systems  of  instruc- 
tion, while  eye  and  hand  culture  have  not  only  been  dis- 
regarded, but  absolutely  looked  down  upon  with  a  lofty 


EDUCATION  AT   ATHENS.  97 

scorn.  No  just  conception  can  be  had  of  their  immense 
value  to  our  structure  without  their  co-education  with  the 
brain ;  their  joint  spliere  of  action  embraces  all  employ- 
ments, the  sciences,  the  arts,  agriculture,  manufactures, 
and  inventions,  together  with  the  application  of  all  these 
to  the  necessities  and  enjoyments  of  society.  To  their 
combined  influence  and  intimate  co-operation  we  owe  the 
conveniences  of  life,  and  the  masterpieces  of  art.  In  this 
view  it  is  impossible  to  discern  under  what  guise  these 
executive  organs  of  the  mind — these  twin-sisters  of  the 
soul — are  not  to  be  considered  as  having  something  to  do 
with  education.  We  teach  our  young  men  to  repeat 
Greek  verses ;  but  it  is  hardly  possible  to  conceive  of  a 
greater  contrast  in  the  matter  of  education  than  we  pre- 
sent to  the  ancient  method  of  instruction.  The  youth  of 
Athens  were  made  the  recipients  of  a  practical  scholar- 
ship. They  were  not  required  to  study  two  dead  lan- 
guages for  the  best  period  of  their  school-days.  The 
human  structure  was  regarded  as  a  whole,  and  instructed 
as  a  whole.  The  court  of  the  Areopagus  appointed  mas- 
ters to  superintend  the  education  of  children,  and  on  this 
they  bestowed  the  most  particular  attention.  Games, 
gymnastics,  and  exercises  were  prescribed  for  the  young 
men,  that  their  bodies  might  be  expanded  and  strength- 
ened, and  all  parts  of  the  frame  developed  in  harmony 
with  the  higher  faculties  of  the  mind.  Hence  came  their 
superlative  beauty  of  person,  their  hardihood,  their  endur- 
ance, and  physical  health.  They  were  afterward  taught 
by  public  masters  in  the  rules  of  art,  and  this  was  a  ma- 
terial object  in  the  education  of  all  the  citizens.  They 
were  instructed,  from  first  to  last,  in  tlie  duties  of  morality 
and  religion,  the  respect  due  to  parents,  a  reverence  for 


98      EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

old  age,  and  the  strictest  obedience  to  the  laws.  The  love 
of  country  and  the  sentiments  of  patriotism  were  assidu- 
ously inculcated,  and  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  was  con- 
veyed by  the  most  impressive  lessons.  Socrates  imbued 
them  with  wisdom,  Plato  with  philosophy,  and  Phidias 
with  art. 

Now,  if  it  be  true  that  history  is  philosophy  teaching  by 
example,  what  standard  of  education  do  we  find  at  Athens 
to  justify  our  own  ?  Shall  we  do  nothing  but  copy  the 
Parthenon  in  our  public  edifices,  and  their  tongue  in  our 
scientific  nomenclature?  A  painter,  who  only  copies, 
will  never  be  a  true  artist,  and  one  who  only  translates 
will  never  be  a  poet,  and  one  who  only  imitates  will  never 
be  a  philosopher.  A  tree  grows  from  the  strength  of  its 
vitality,  the  propitiousness  of  soil,  and  the  accidents  of 
sunshine  and  rain  in  the  spot  where  it  is  planted,  and  not 
from  the  growth  and  richness  of  a  distant  forest.  The 
American  boy  is  only  half  educated,  or  educated  in  one 
direction,  that  is,  mentally,  and  scarcely  at  all  in  the  di- 
rection which  still  makes  Greece  the  silent  companion 
and  instructor  of  mankind.  Even  intellectual  culture, 
itself,  must  depend  upon  the  enrichment  of  the  intuitive 
powers,  and  not  upon  imparted  ideas ;  or,  in  other 
words,  the  capacity  of  deduction  should  not  be  sacrificed 
to  verbalism  and  memory.  It  is  the  mission  of  a  prac- 
tical education  not  only  to  impart  the  elements  of  knowl- 
edge, but  to  draw  forth  the  faculties,  and  train  them  to 
act  intelligently  and  successfully  in  all  the  circumstances 
of  life. 

'No  one  who  studies  the  marvelous  history  of  the  pub- 
lic-school system  of  education  in  the  United  States,  can 
fail  to  acknowledge  its  extraordinary  influence  upon  the 


PRESENT   SYSTEM   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION.  99 

welfare  of  tlie  people.  New  England  has  been  referred 
to  as  an  example.  Founded  in  our  early  settlements,  its 
progress  has  been  too  slow  to  suit  the  fervent  wishes  of 
our  critics.  Undoubtedly  important  changes  must  be  in- 
troduced, suited  to  the  changed  conditions  of  the  age. 
But  surely  we  can  have  no  sympathy  with  the  tendency 
to  injure  or  destroy  this  vast  agency  for  good,  because  it 
continues  to  do  that  good  under  circumstances  that  were 
not  foreseen,  and  could  not  have  been  anticipated.  Any 
candid  observer  will  admit  the  process  of  improvement 
going  on  within  the  last  few  years.  Not  only  are  the 
pupils  trained  in  the  art  of  drawing,  which  lies  at  the 
foundation  of  all  constructive  industry,  but  they  are 
imbued  with  the  rudiments  of  popular  science  and  me- 
chanics; and  these  improvements  demonstrate  that  the 
necessity  of  change  has  been  accepted  as  a  part  of  a  valu- 
able system ;  and  a  fair  way  is  thus  opened  for  still 
greater  progress  in  making  public  education  a  fitting 
preparation  for  useful  pursuits  afterward.  It  is  better  to 
be  a  little  behind  the  age  than  encounter  the  dangers  of 
mere  empiricism,  and  if  some  of  our  home  critics  declare 
the  common  school  a  great  failure,  let  us  remember  that 
the  best  and  greatest  in  our  own  land,  and  the  most  keen- 
sighted  and  intelligent  in  Europe,  declare  that  there  is  no 
American  institution  that  they  so  much  admire. 

It  will  not  be  supposed  that,  in  referring  to  the  de- 
ficiencies of  the  public-school  system,  there  is  any  design 
to  underrate  its  general  effect,  but  rather  that  it  should 
be  reconstructed  in  a  manner  suitable  to  the  times. 

Let  us  state  some  of  the  main  facts.  We  expend,  say, 
in  round  numbers,  $100,000,000  per  annum  upon  the  sup- 
port of  public  schools.    Our  school  property  may  be  valued 


100    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

at  not  less  than  $200,000,000.  Splendid  school-buildings 
iiv^e  stories  high,  with  libraries,  and  all  kinds  of  con- 
veniences and  apparatus  for  literary  education,  grace  and 
adorn  the  most  beautiful  spaces  in  our  cities ;  and  hum- 
bler ones  are  seen  in  all  the  rural  districts  of  the  North 
and  West ;  and,  notwithstanding  this  immense  outlay,  we 
are  obliged  to  rely  upon  foreigners  in  nearly  all  the  indus- 
trial arts  that  depend  upon  technical  information. 

Now,  if  the  object  of  education  is  to  prepare  the  pupils 
for  useful  and  successful  work,  certainly  our  present  sys- 
tem can  not  be  the  best  preparation  for  the  wide-working 
world  of  to-day.  Great  as  this  burden  is,  the  American 
constituents  bear  it  more  cheerfully  than  they  do  any  other 
pubhc  tax,  for  they  thoroughly  believe  in  the  general  ex- 
cellence of  public  instruction ;  but  the  need  of  this  kind  of 
knowledge  which  it  has  failed  to  suppl}^  would  seem  to 
call  for  a  deep  and  critical  inquiry  into  the  competency 
of  our  present  system  of  education,  with  the  view  of  still 
further  extending,  in  the  direction  of  present  wants,  the 
changes  and  improvements  commenced,  as  we  have  seen, 
with  great  vigor  in  some  quarters.  All  intemperate  haste 
on  this  subject  is  out  of  place.  The  fact  has  attracted 
men's  attention,  and,  no  doubt,  when  the  changes  already 
made  shall  have  had  sufficient  time  to  develop  into  practi- 
cal results,  more  important  improvements  still  m^  ill  be  ex- 
tended where  most  needed.  These  schools  have  not  been 
made  :  they  have  grown.  They  have  become  what  they 
are  through  the  course  of  ages,  and  they  are  still  growing 
more  and  more  into  the  active  life  of  the  people.  Have 
patience,  brother,  and  we  will  yet  see  the  ideal  school,  or 
at  least  a  near  generation  of  our  children  will ! 

It  is  often  said,  in  reply  to  suggestions  of  this  kind, 


LESSONS   OF   LIFE   AND   EXPERIENCE.  101 

that  we  are  not  to  expect  everything  from  the  school- 
master. This  expression  has  become  stereotyped.  The 
family  and  the  world  are  also  teachers,  and  the  lines  of 
Goethe  express  the  great  truth  that  life  is  the  school  of 
manhood : 

A  noble  man  may  to  a  naiTow  sphere 

Not  owe  his  training.     In  his  country  he 

And  in  the  world  must  learn  to  be  at  home, 

And  bear  both  praise  and  blame,  and  by  long  proof 

Of  contest  and  collision  nicely  know 

Himself  and  others — not  in  solitude, 

Cradling  his  soul  in  dreams  of  fair  conceit. 

A  foe  will  not,  a  true  friend  dare  not,  spare  him  ; 

And  thus  in  strife  of  well-tried  powers  he  grows, 

Feels  what  he  is,  and  feels  himself  a  man. 

It  is  also  true  that  the  American  citizen  has  other  les- 
sons than  those  imparted  in  the  school-room.  His  mind 
is  constantly  called  into  exercise  by  the  greatest  of  all 
teachers — experience.  He  has  to  estimate  the  advantages 
and  disadvantages  arising  from  the  administration  of  pub- 
lic affairs,  and  by  this  mental  exercise  he  acquires  much 
knowledge,  and  an  expansion  of  ideas.  He  acts  as  a  voter, 
a  juror,  and  as  an  official ;  he  is  called  upon  to  scrutinize 
the  current  events  and  the  symptoms  of  the  times ;  he 
keeps  a  sharp  eye  upon  the  markets,  and  discusses,  or 
hears  others  discuss,  the  relations  of  labor  and  capital,  and 
watches  public  movements  with  more  or  less  attention ; 
and  thus  he  acquires  knowledge  on  a  great  variety  of 
topics,  and  his  reflections  embrace  a  wide  field  of  observa- 
tion. Perhaps  there  is  no  country  in  the  world  where  so 
many  books  are  sold.  Newspapers  are  everywhere  sup- 
ported, and  they  dilate  upon  all  branches  of  science,  his- 


102    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

tory,  politics,  morals,  poetry,  art,  philosophy,  and  woman's 
rights  ;  and,  notwithstanding  all  drawbacks,  they  perform 
their  part  in  carrying  on  the  great  work  of  educating  the 
public  mind.  While  the  churches  are  earnestly  engaged 
in  building  temples,  colleges,  and  schools  for  instruction 
in  their  various  tenets,  they  also  support  a  vast  ministry, 
publish  books  and  pamphlets  for  distribution,  and  so  dif- 
fuse through  almost  all  ranks  of  society  a  great  amount  of 
secular  information,  and  a  salutary  influence  upon  the  life 
and  morals  of  the  people.  Then  there  are  addresses  upon 
public  occasions,  and  popular  lecturers  who  must  keep  up 
with  the  spirit  of  the  times,  and  cultivate  a  cordial  sym- 
pathy and  understanding  with  the  masses.  To  these 
means  of  informing  and  educating  the  people  might  be 
added  public  libraries,  museums,  congressional  debates, 
literary  and  scientific  societies,  popular  assemblies,  and 
conventions  for  all  conceivable  purposes. 

Such,  in  a  general  way,  on  the  larger  scale  of  practical 
life,  is  the  education  furnished  by  the  intellectual  activity 
of  the  age.  It  will  be  observed  that,  valuable  as  all  this 
is,  it  affords  little  instruction  in  the  elements  of  natural 
science,  and  almost  none  at  all  in  the  practice  or  technics 
of  industrial  vocations.  Its  effect  is  one  of  general  utility, 
and  possesses  as  little  for  the  physician  or  the  lawyer  as  it 
does  for  the  engineer,  the  artist,  or  the  artisan. 

With  regard  to  the  public  school,  the  same  remark  is 
almost  applicable,  for  the  system  of  education  is  there 
directed  to  acquirements  of  general  utility.  Its  tendency 
and  design  are  not  only  to  train  the  intellect,  but  also  to 
impart  accomplishments  which,  in  the  main,  are  of  a  utili- 
tarian character,  and  such  as  can  be  turned  to  some  account 
in  the  active  business  of  life.    The  general  effect  has  been 


OUR   OBLIGATIONS  TO  THE   PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.         103 

to  make  the  people  intelligent,  self-reliant,  quick,  and 
ready  to  learn  the  beneficent  features  of  any  useful  pur- 
suit in  which  they  engage.  It  renders  them  prompt  to 
serve  their  country  in  official  service,  or  on  the  field  of 
battle.  Our  obligations  to  the  public  school  are  numer- 
ous and  important ;  much  of  the  general  intelligence 
which  distinguishes  the  United  States  is  traceable  to  its 
teachings;  it  has  given  a  fair  start  in  life  to  thousands, 
and  many  of  the  most  brilliant  and  accomplished  men 
in  the  Union  have  been  recruited  from  its  walls.  Its 
tendency  is  to  elevate  the  character  of  our  people,  and  in- 
sure the  best  interests  of  society.  How  infinitely  impo- 
tent are  the  detractions  of  prejudice  against  these  noble 
results!  And  yet  there  are  drawbacks  and  defects  that 
defy  disproof;  for,  while  the  useful  arts  of  life  have  ex- 
ercised the  most  marked  influence  upon  our  position  in 
the  scale  of  civilization,  and  furnish  employments  for  a 
very  large  portion  of  those  who  have  to  earn  a  living,  the 
necessity  of  an  education  commensurate  with  these  wants 
and  relations  has  not  been  sufficiently  recognized  in  the 
programmes  and  routines  of  public  instruction. 

How  many,  out  of  the  numbers  of  young  men  who 
leave  school,  and  who  are  gifted  with  every  mental  and 
physical  requisite  for  success,  and  who  are  also  splendidly 
disciplined  by  all  the  teachings  of  the  public  school,  can 
gain  assistance  from  their  education  in  any  practical  pur- 
suit they  intend  to  follow  ?  To  be  sure,  they  get  along 
somehow,  and  many  of  them  anyhow.  The  desire  of 
reaching  an  honorable  and  useful  condition  is  a  stimulus, 
and  in  this  country  the  field  is  broad  and  open  to  all,  and 
those  who  are  brave  and  ambitious  come  out  with  success, 
while  others  in  the  stern  and  aimless  struggle  have  be- 


104    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

come  dispirited  and  broken-hearted.  The  difficulty  is 
being  seriously  considered,  and  many  persons,  well  quali- 
fied to  speak  on  the  subject,  do  not  hesitate  to  recommend 
the  adoption  of  a  course  of  manual  training  as  a  necessary 
and  indispensable  part  of  public  education.  And,  from 
causes  already  adverted  to,  and  still  further  to  be  dis- 
cussed, can  it  be  doubted  that  the  improvement  vrould 
infinitely  enhance  the  value  of  our  school  system,  until  it 
culminated  into  a  perfection  which  would  leave  little  to 
be  desired  ? 

It  is  said  that  this  ought  to  be  done  in  the  workshop 
or  in  the  manufactory ;  but,  let  it  be  remembered  that  ap- 
prenticeship in  mechanical  trades  has  almost  disappeared 
in  this  country,  and  well-trained  workmen,  among  native- 
born  Americans,  are  becoming  scarcer  every  year.  Cur- 
rent information  states  that  manufacturers  in  artistic 
work  are  obliged  to  import  foreign  designers  and  work- 
men in  the  execution  of  highly  finished  productions ; 
thus  increasing  the  competition  with  our  own  artisans, 
and  deteriorating  the  standard  of  wages  for  both.  At  the 
annual  banquet  of  the  Jewelers'  Association  in  the  city 
of  Kew  York,  in  JS^ovember,  1880,  one  of  the  speakers 
made  some  remarks  so  pertinent  on  this  subject,  and  com- 
ing from  a  practical  man,  that  I  can  not  do  better  than  in- 
troduce them  here.     He  said  : 

"I  hardly  dare  take  up  anymore  of  your  time,  but,  if 
you  will  indulge  me  a  moment  longer,  I  would  like  to 
allude  to  one  other  subject.  I  mean  the  great  and  grow- 
ing need  we  have  for  the  establishment  of  schools  of  art 
and  design.  The  great  need  that  we  have  all  felt  in  our 
factories  is  cultured  and  artistic  taste  in  our  workmen. 
We  need  artists  as  well  as  workmen.     We  need  men  not 


SPEECH   ABOUT   SCHOOLS   OF   ART    AND   DESIGN.       105 

only  with  strong  arms  and  deft  fingers,  but  active  and 
fertile  brains  as  well.  We  need  schools  where  our  young 
men  and  boys  can  be  early  taught  the  use  of  the  crayon 
and  the  pencil,  and  where  they  can  learn  the  art  of  model- 
ing and  designing,  and  be  educated  in  everything  that 
will  tend  to  make  them  accomjolished  workmen  and  art- 
ists. This  can  only  be  done  by  making  a  commencement 
in  our  manufacturing  towns  and  cities,  in  establishing 
schools  of  art  and  design.  There  are  gentlemen  here  who 
employ  four  or  five  hundred  men,  boys,  and  girls.  If, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  large  and  flourishing  establish- 
ments, and  the  smaller  ones  also,  something  could  be 
done  in  the  way  I  have  imperfectly  indicated,  I  think  it 
would  be  a  good  beginning,  and  a  step  taken  in  the  right 
direction.  A  short,  familiar  lecture  of  an  evening,  not 
only  on  designing  and  modeling,  but  on  the  nature  of 
and  the  working  in  the  precious  metals,  would  greatly 
add  to  the  interest  of  the  occasion,  and  the  instruction 
of  the  class  would  be  a  real  pleasure  and  a  substantial 
benefit,  and,  moreover,  would  bring  together  the  employer 
and  the  employed  in  pleasant  intercourse,  and  be  a  real 
bond  of  union  between  them.  In  some  such  way  a  com- 
mencement could  be  made,  a  class  or  school  be  formed 
which  would  be  but  the  beginning  of  that  large  class  and 
that  large  school  which  would  one  day  bring  skill  and 
taste  to  our  workmen,  refinement  and  culture  to  our  peo- 
ple, and  honor  and  wealth  to  the  nation." 

This  is  a  clear  statement  of  the  case,  by  one  who  speaks 
from  knowledge,  and  he  shows  the  absolute  necessity  of 
art-education  to  the  American  artisan.  There  is  scarcely 
an  artistic  trade  that  is  not  closed  against  him.  We  fre- 
quently read  in  the  newspapers  that  the  members  of  a 
6 


106    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

trades-union  Lave  stopped  work  for  the  reason  that  an 
apprentice  has  been  employed  after  the  full  quota  pre- 
scribed bj  their  rales  has  been  reached.  Under  such  dis- 
advantages it  is  difficult  to  see  how  our  native  mechanics 
pick  up  their  craft.  Indeed,  the  mechanic  arts  are  rapidly 
passing  out  of  our  hands.  Our  boys  and  girls  are  brought 
up  intellectually,  and  without  any  taste  for  or  idea  of  work. 
They  seek  other  employment.  Every  year,  throughout 
the  land,  great  multitudes  graduate  from  our  schools  ; 
and  most  of  them  are  in  a  state  of  perplexity  as  to  how 
they  shall  earn  a  living,  and  when  the  world  opens  its 
Pandora's  box  of  evils  before  the  young,  we  can  only  be 
comforted  by  the  hope  that  the  confusion  will  harmonize 
itself  into  the  best  results.  They  ask  themselves,  they  ask 
their  friends,  What  shall  we  do?  They  have  received 
what  would  formerly  have  been  considered  almost  a  lib- 
eral education,  and  are  not  prone  to  consider  the  claims 
of  agriculture  and  the  various  trades ;  so  they  crowd  into 
the  large  cities  and  towns,  filling  all  the  clerical  emjDloy- 
ments ;  some  of  the  more  resolute,  facing  the  long  and 
toilsome  ascent  of  a  regular  calling,  or  the  heroic  endur- 
ance necessary  to  acquire  a  profession  ;  while  still  more  of 
them  join  the  ever-increasing  flow  into  that  great  section 
of  the  community  who  are  ready  to  accept  an  empty  place 
on  almost  any  terms.  Here  is  an  item  of  news,  going  the 
rounds,  which  illustrates  the  condition  of  thousands :  "  I 
am  astonished,"  exclaimed  a  friend  to  a  clerk,  a  really 
well-educated  and  accomplished  person,  "that  you  stand 
such  bully-ragging  from  that  ruffian."  "  I  think  of  my 
wife  and  babies,"  was  the  meek  rejoinder ;  "  there  would 
be  fifty  fellows  after  my  place  to-morrow."  The  man 
had  made  repeated  attempts  at  suicide,  as  the  strain  of 


NEED  OF  PRACTICAL  EDUCATION.         107 

tlie  situation  was  too  hard  for  him.  The  writer  remarks : 
"  Still  they  come,  by  reason  of  the  delusion  that  the  occu- 
pation is  genteel,  and  that  the  labor  of  a  mechanic  or 
farmer,  working  with  his  own  hands,  is  low.  It  will  be  a 
good  thing  for  the  community  when  such  stuff  and  non- 
sense are  knocked  out  of  it." 

Now,  while  our  native-born  workmen  are  slowly  de- 
creasing in  number,  the  artistic  trades  are  multiplying 
prodigiously  in  our  cities  and  manufacturing  towns,  with 
an  ever-augmenting  demand  for  industrial  skill,  with 
remunerative  employment.  The  decorative  arts,  for  in- 
stance, find  the  greatest  encouragement  in  the  United 
States,  and  the  extent  to  which  they  may  be  carried  is  as 
absolutely  boundless  as  human  genius  itself.  The  relish 
of  our  countrymen  for  the  best  of  everything,  and  their 
taste  for  pleasure  and  display,  give  occupation  to  countless 
arts  at  home  and  abroad.  Besides,  as  soon  as  any  branch  of 
science  has  discovered  a  principle  which  can  be  applied  to 
the  necessities  or  luxuries  of  life,  it  receives  the  utmost 
attention  ;  and  if  it  stands  the  test  of  practical  utility,  it 
immediately  receives  encouragement  in  some  appropriate 
department  of  human  industry.  The  discovery  that  a 
magnet  could  be  created  by  a  galvanic  current  was  long 
thought  to  be  useless  ;  but  it  is  now  developed  into  the  tele- 
graph. So  of  photography,  by  which  light  and  electricity 
are  made  to  exhibit  the  most  beautiful  and  astonishing  phe- 
nomena. The  materials  which  produce  the  brightest  and 
most  durable  colors  are  among  the  least  abundant  for 
the  manufacture  of  vegetable  dyes,  and  consequently  the 
most  costly ;  but,  by  the  application  of  aniline,  the  art  of 
dyeing  is  not  only  brought  to  the  highest  perfection,  but 
also  a  richness,  brilliancy,  and  durability  of  coloring  quite 


108    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

equal  to  that  of  the  Gobelin  tapestry  of  France  is  secured. 
And  so  of  hundreds  of  examples  of  the  same  kind,  which 
have  incalculably  enlarged  the  range  of  mechanical  and 
artistic  employments.  These  discoveries  not  only  afford 
employments :  but  consider  their  utility — the  car,  the 
steamship,  the  compass ;  think  of  the  inappreciable  com- 
forts these  improvements  afford  the  household  of  the 
humblest  citizen.  We  have  seen  how  they  promote  the 
agricultural  interests,  but  every  trade,  calling,  and  occu- 
pation, every  profession  and  interest,  all  classes  in  all 
seasons  and  at  all  times — the  editor  in  his  gazette,  the 
author  in  his  book,  the  artist  at  his  easel,  and  the  lawyer 
in  his  brief,  are  every  one  supplied  in  various  ways  by  the 
skill  and  energy  of  those  who  labor  in  the  countless  utili- 
ties of  modern  discoveries  and  arts. 

Perhaps  the  most  numerous  class  attending  the  public 
schools  are  the  children  of  the  poor  or  of  those  in  mod- 
erate circumstances,  and  they  are  content,  and  are  com- 
pelled to  be  content,  with  the  minimum  of  mental  educa- 
tion. Would  not  that  education  be  greatly  enhanced  if  it 
provided  some  manual  exercise  which  would  enable  them 
to  enter  at  once  upon  their  intended  trade  or  business 
with  the  greatest  advantage?  Give  them  the  tool,  and  a 
knowledge  of  its  use,  together  with  a  general  education, 
and  it  will  be  for  them  to  do  the  rest.  They  will  en- 
counter the  inevitable  inequalities  of  human  intelligence, 
and  if  they  are  turned  from  the  people's  schools  without 
any  practical  skill  to  aid  them  in  the  unequal  combat,  they 
can  only  count  upon  one  half  of  their  abilities,  and  can 
only  put  forth  one  half  of  their  strength.  An  eclectic 
education  would  recognize  the  necessities  of  their  condi- 
tion. 


EDUCATION  SUGGESTED  BY  OUR  STRUCTURE.      109 

The  disinterested  cultivation  of  the  mind  attracts  the 
smallest  number  of  those  who  study,  while  the  great  mass 
leave  school  as  a  necessity  before  finishing  its  courses.  To 
develop  their  manual  ability  in  gaining  access  to  an  indus- 
try or  business  will  insure  a  durable  and  salutary  means 
of  support  to  countless  thousands  when  they  most  need 
it.  An  attractive  occupation,  in  which  skill  is  alhed  to 
industry,  yields  not  only  the  means  of  subsistence,  but  it 
stimulates  the  employed  to  frugality  and  diligence ;  it 
imparts  to  them  cheerfulness  and  contentment,  and  cher- 
ishes an  elevated  spirit  of  self-respect  and  independence. 
This  is  certainly  one  of  the  highest  aims,  if  not  the  very 
highest,  of  a  true  education.  Whatever  makes  better 
men  and  better  citizens  contributes  to  the  general  good 
and  the  public  prosperity. 

It  is  said  that  education  must  be  confined  to  intel- 
lectual culture,  to  the  enlargement  of  the  mind  by  the 
superimposition  of  information,  and  the  communication 
of  such  rules  and  precepts  as  experience  has  developed 
and  justified ;  that,  in  fact,  it  consists  in  drawing  forth 
the  faculties,  and  molding  them  to  certain  elements  of 
knowledge,  which  embrace  in  their  generality  the  whole 
mental  and  moral  adornment  of  mankind.  The  funda- 
mental error  in  this  definition  is,  that  it  entirely  overlooks 
our  physical  constitution.  Even  in  the  savage  state  of 
human  existence  they  know  better,  for  the  parent  guides 
his  barbarous  progeny  to  plunder  and  the  chase. 

l^ow,  let  us  see  what  idea  of  education  is  suggested 
by  our  physical  structure.  The  Psalmist  declares  that 
we  are  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made.  The  complexity 
of  our  organization  attracts  the  attention  and  admiration 
of  both  art  and  science.    Whether  we  stand  or  walk,  speak 


110    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

or  hear,  look  or  listen — in  our  external  appearance,  alone, 
we  present  to  the  observation  a  most  wonderful  phenom- 
enon. And  not  less  so  is  the  adaptation  of  our  senses  to 
the  sensible  qualities  and  elements  with  which  we  are  sur- 
rounded. Could  we  penetrate  the  surface,  and  behold 
the  nice  articulations  which  give  the  hand  its  extraordi- 
nary strength  and  delicacy  of  touch — could  we  look  into 
the  attenuated  channels  which  feed  the  eye  with  its  heav- 
enly light — could  a  glimpse  be  afforded  us  of  the  almost 
spiritualized  tissues  of  the  lungs,  from  which  flow  the 
melodious  accents  of  human  speech — or,  could  we  ascend 
with  the  crimson  current  into  the  brain,  and  behold  Rea- 
son seated  upon  her  throne,  and  see  her  hold  intercourse 
through  the  mysterious  labyrinth  of  the  nervous  system 
with  the  world  around  us,  and  taking  note  of  the  varied 
color,  relation,  and  use  of  everything  in  matter,  time,  and 
space — then,  indeed,  should  we  be  able  to  appreciate  the 
association  of  all  these  in  every  human  effort,  and  to  ac- 
knowledge that  each  in  its  degree  contributes  to  elevate 
and  fortify  the  mind  itself.  And  as  the  senses  are  as  in- 
lets through  which  the  images  of  things  are  carried  to  the 
intelligence,  so  they  exert  an  influence  not  less  important 
to  the  transcendent  powers  of  the  mind,  by  executing  its 
ideas,  motives,  and  perfections  in  the  concrete  forms  of 
constructive  art.  Like  a  master  who  employs  those  pos- 
sessing special  skill  in  his  works,  so  the  brain  employs  all 
the  capacities  of  hand  and  eye,  of  touch  and  sound,  to  in- 
terpret its  designs  and  thoughts  into  tangible  forms — 
hence  we  have  a  machine,  a  vase,  an  article  of  furniture, 
a  painting,  or  a  ship.  The  mind  conceives,  the  hand  ex- 
ecutes ;  the  two  agencies  bestow  their  ingenuity  upon 
every  object  of  value.     They  are  distinct,  but  it  would  be 


EDUCATION  SUGGESTED   BY  OUR  STRUCTURE.        HI 

diflficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  tell  wliere  the  idea  of  the 
one  and  the  technic  skill  of  the  other  could  be  separated. 
They  co-operate  intimately  and  indispensably,  and  the  in- 
tellectual enjoyments  we  derive  from  the  refinements  of 
life  are  the  harmonious  results  of  their  enduring  labor. 
To  convey  the  images  of  external  things  to  the  mental 
faculties,  and  to  work  out  the  thoughts  thus  created  in 
the  mind,  is  the  mission  of  these  organs  ;  and  the  marvel- 
ous precision  with  which  they  embody  all  mental  concep- 
tions into  forms  of  usefulness  and  beauty  serve  to  excite 
the  enthusiasm  and  admiration  of  mankind.  The  eyes 
and  the  hands  are  principally  employed  in  these  creations, 
and  it  is  seen  that  just  as  they  are  perfected  in  their  work 
can  they  translate  the  ideals  of  the  mind  and  mingle  with 
the  intelligence  of  the  spirit.  By  this  means  reflection 
and  research  are  utilized  into  forms  for  the  practical  pur- 
poses of  life,  and  the  advancement  of  the  race,  and  art, 
science,  and  philosophy  embellish  our  existence.  All  this 
implies  two  kinds  of  education — lessons  in  regard  to 
things,  to  our  hands,  and  to  our  eyes,  and  furnishes  proof 
that  equality  in  education  belongs  to  the  generic  relation 
of  these  parts  with  the  mind  itself,  and  is  the  true  method 
to  be  pursued  at  the  present  time.  This  is  the  motto 
of  industrial  education — equality  of  mental  and  manual 
training,  with  due  proportions  in  the  order  of  teaching. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  conjecture  to  what  extent  in- 
dustrial education  can  be  carried.  Many  general  plans 
have  been  suggested,  and  no  doubt  there  have  been,  and 
there  will  continue  to  be,  many  doubtful  experiments, 
but  we  know  that  schools  and  workshops  have  exercised 
the  most  marked  influence  upon  the  position  of  the  Con- 
tinental countries  of  Europe.     The  standard  system  of 


112    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

education  to-day  in  France,  Germany,  Austria,  and  Russia, 
in  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark,  in  Belgium,  Holland, 
and  Switzerland,  is  an  intimate  incorporation  of  mental 
and  manual  training.  Even  among  the  people,  the  most 
distinguished  by  the  singular  ingenuity  and  address,  if 
not  superiority  in  their  arts  of  life,  this  course  is  the  most 
liberally  and  energetically  sustained.  It  has  recently  been 
constituted  a  part  of  the  public-school  system  established 
in  France.  The  necessity  of  an  education  commensurate 
with  the  wants  and  relations  of  the  age  is  inexorably  de- 
manded by  human  pursuits. 

AVhat,  then,  is  the  right  and  duty  of  the  State  in  rela- 
tion to  this  matter  ?  The  several  States  provide  schools 
at  the  public  expense  in  this  country ;  and  primary  and 
secondary  instruction  is  universal  and  free  to  all — both 
sexes  and  every  condition.  The  right  of  the  State  being 
admitted,  the  conclusions  to  be  deduced  are  very  simple  : 

1.  That  the  Government  is  created  for  the  good  of 
the  people,  and  ought  to  provide  every  element  of  edu- 
cation necessary  to  their  growth  as  a  free  and  superior 
race.  That  the  essential  thing  in  education  is  to  apply  it 
to  some  useful  purpose,  having  for  its  aim  what  is  for  the 
advantage  of  society  and  the  development  of  the  indi- 
vidual, and  improving  all  the  faculties  of  man,  physical, 
intellectual,  and  moral,  by  studies  appropriate  to  their 
unfold  ment.  It  ought  to  develop  the  talents  of  the  young 
and  make  them  men  and  women  of  the  age  in  which  they 
live,  so  as  to  adapt  their  intelligence  to  the  substantial 
transactions  of  life. 

2.  As  the  sciences  are  now  connected  with  every  in- 
dustrial pursuit,  the  immense  value  of  some  knowledge 


DUTY   OF   TnE   GOVERNMENT.  113 

on  these  subjects  is  apparent,  for  upon  them,  as  guides 
and  instruments,  must  largely  depend  the  future  indus- 
try and  happiness  of  the  people.  The  application  of  the 
exact  sciences  to  the  processes  of  industry  is  a  matter 
of  the  deepest  interest  to  the  inventor,  the  artisan,  and 
the  manufacturer.  Education  ought  to  be  adapted  to 
this  state  of  society  in  order  to  prepare  men  and  women 
for  the  active  spheres  of  their  future  work.  The  time 
has,  therefore,  come  when  preparatory  studies  should  be 
placed  in  the  programmes  of  public  instruction,  especially 
to  teach  the  natural  laws  which  affect  the  different  trades, 
together  with  exercise  in  hand-work,  and  the  use  of  tools 
in  general  practice,  in  order  to  fit  the  young  to  master  the 
special  industry  they  intend  to  pursue. 

3.  Whether  the  learning  of  trades  is  a  proper  part  of 
public  education  is  a  problem  which  must  be  finally  de- 
termined by  the  utilitarian  struggle  our  lot  in  this  country 
demands.  The  prejudices  against  it  are  relaxing,  and  we 
may  be  sure  that  whatever  will  bear  the  test  of  applica- 
tion, and  the  observation  of  a  rigorous  comparison,  will 
ultimately  be  established  by  the  gradual  process  of  evo- 
lution. Since  the  decay  of  apprenticeship,  the  industrial 
school  will  originate  in  the  necessities  of  our  civilization ; 
for  it  will  deal  with  that  kind  of  study  which  bears  most 
vitally  upon  the  personal  welfare  of  the  industrial  classes, 
and  is  equally  necessary  to  maintain  our  superiority  in  the 
social  and  material  activities  of  life. 

4.  Passing  from  the  vexed  question  of  trades  in  the 
public  schools,  the  art  of  drawing  ought  to  be  taught  in 
them  all,  on  account  of  its  refining  influence,  as  well  as 
for  the  reason  that  it  is  the  basis  of  all  trades  that  depend 
upon  design,  and  the  students  should  be  systematically 


114    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

instructed  to  work  out  the  designs,  and  in  the  principles 
of  perspective,  and  of  color,  light,  and  shadow ;  also  to 
prepare  patterns  for  textile  fabrics,  ornamental  carving 
in  wood,  and  ornaments  for  glass,  for  pottery,  for  marble, 
for  stone,  and  for  embroidery.  They  should  also  acquire 
the  practice  of  numerous  arts  which  can  be  easily  learned 
by  those  who  can  draw  and  the  rudiments  of  practical 
industry,  the  use  of  tools,  and  a  knowledge  of  a  variety 
of  substances  connected  with  industrial  art.  This  would 
afford  a  great  amount  of  auxiliary  knowledge  in  any  in- 
dustrial career  they  might  enter  upon. 

The  foregoing  summary  presents  some  of  the  points 
to  be  discussed  in  the  following  chapters.  The  claims  of 
technological  education,  and  its  condition  in  this  country, 
have  already  been  referred  to,  and  its  scope  and  purpose 
have  been  exhibited  as  of  the  highest  importance  to  all  in- 
dustrial pursuits  alike,  especially  where  workshop  practice 
has  been  introduced  to  teach  the  students  the  application  of 
scientific  theories  to  industrial  purposes.  We  have  also 
seen  that  institutions  of  this  kind  exist,  or  may  exist,  in 
each  of  the  States  by  the  bounty  of  Congress.  But  the 
great  mass  of  the  children  can  never  reach  them,  and  their 
only  opportunity  for  acquiring  any  special  knowledge 
preparatory  to  practical  work  must  be  taught  them  in 
the  common  schools.  The  workshops,  which  may  be 
characterized  as  the  last  hope  of  our  industrious  youth, 
are  closed  against  them,  and  apprenticeship  exists  only  in 
name.  If  there  is  no  industrial  art  in  the  ordinary  school- 
lessons,  their  lot  must  be  hard  indeed. 

If  it  be  true  that  studies  should  be  pursued  not  only 
for  their  influence  as  an  intellectual  discipline,  but  also 


AMERICAN  INSTITUTE  OF  INSTRUCTION.  US 

for  their  efficacy  npon  the  pursuits  and  habits  of  the  peo- 
ple, ho^y  can  this  degree  of  instiiiction  be  withheld,  espe- 
cially since  it  also  exerts  a  powerful  influence  in  pro- 
ducing wealth,  in  checking  evil,  and  promoting  good  ? 
The  State  has  clearly  a  right  to  look  into  and  direct  the 
particulars  of  an  education  which  it  freely  bestows ;  and 
it  is  the  interest  of  the  State  that  there  be  no  illiterate 
minds,  and  that  every  child  should  be  provided  with  the 
preparatory  information  connected  with  his  future  call- 
ing. The  necessity  for  industrial  education  of  some  kind 
is  so  evident  that  the  American  Institute  of  Instruction, 
at  its  recent  session  in  Saratoga  (1882),  appointed  a  com- 
mittee upon  the  subject,  and  John  S.  Clarke,  of  Boston, 
who  was  secretary  of  the  committee,  among  other  points, 
reported  the  following : 

4.  Collaterally  with  this  training  of  the  senses,  and 
this  study  of  man,  there  should  be  proper  training  in  the 
use  of  language  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  and  express- 
ing thought  abstractly ;  and  also  proper  training  of  the 
hand  ill  the  use  of  tools  for  the  pur_pose  of  expressing 
thought  concretely. 

A  foot-note  expresses  the  meaning  of  the  last  clause 
to  be: 

The  tools  here  recommended  are  such  hand  and  ma- 
chine tools  as  are  used  fundamentally  in  the  manipulations 
of  wood,  stone,  and  metals — the  hammer,  saw,  plane,  chisel, 
gauge,  square,  file,  lathe,  planer,  milling-machine,  etc. 

A  discussion  ensued  on  the  subject  of  industrial  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools,  which  was  characterized  by 
great  diversity  of  views,  and  a  motion  to  lay  the  subject 
on  the  table  was  carried  by  a  vote  of  sixty  in  the  affirma- 


116    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

tive  to  twenty  in  tlie  negative.  There  is  to  be  accorded 
to  this  body  the  highest  rank  among  the  educators  in  the 
United  States,  and,  while  the  predominating  feeling  was 
unfavorable  to  any  definite  conclusion  without  further  in- 
vestigation, it  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  sign  of  progress  that 
such  a  distinguished  body  of  teachers  should  earnestly 
consider  the  subject,  and  impart  their  convictions  to 
others. 

In  matters  of  education  the  empire  of  habit  is  singu- 
larly powerful,  and  innovations  can  only  be  accomplished 
by  steady  and  persistent  effort.  Industrial  education  is 
the  imperious  demand  of  the  times,  and  yet  able  and 
learned  men  will  find  themselves  in  unfriendly  relations 
with  the  necessary  reforms.  We  can  remember  how  difli- 
cult  it  was  to  impress  the  principles  of  the  equality  of 
science  with  the  classics  upon  our  colleges.  The  cause  of 
science  has,  however,  been  substantially  gained,  and  the 
universities  are  now  vying  with  each  other  in  offering 
facilities  for  scientific  studies. 

The  future  is  before  us,  and  the  cause  of  education 
can  but  be  benefited  by  the  agitation. 


CHAPTER  YII. 

The  art  of  drawing — Natural  order  of  studies  begins  with  it — The  lesson  of 
things — Effect  of,  on  industrial  education — Indispensable  in  education 
— Massachusetts  and  New  York — Branch  of  primary  education  in — 
Prejudice  against  it — Practical  use  of  drawing — Exhibit  at  Centen- 
nial— French  commission  at — Experience  at  Taunton — Women's  Art 
School,  Cooper  Union — Walter  Smith's  system — Drawing  ought  to  be 
directed  to  the  industries — Beauty  of  outline — It  is  teaching  every 
trade  that  depends  upon  design — Involves  easy  lessons  in  geometry, 
botany,  architecture,  and  history — Geometrical  drawing  first — Orna- 
ment— Its  almost  universal  application  in  the  olden  time — Then  came 
utility  alone — The  working  artist — Improvement  of  public  taste — Effect 
upon  our  industries — Mr.  Outis's  work — Drawing  in  France — French 
styles — Expenditures  for  teaching  it — The  reason  of  her  beautiful 
works — Great  Britain — Her  expenditure  to  promote  the  art  of  drawing 
— Drawing  as  a  branch  of  study  in  this  country — Common  schools — 
The  importance  of  drawing  to  various  industries — Architecture  in  New 
York — Importation  of  workmen  for  building. 

There  is  one  study  which  lies  at  the  basis  of  all  the 
constructive  arts,  and  which  has  been  made  a  branch  of 
primary  education  to  the  children  of  the  poor  as  well  as 
of  the  rich  in  all  the  systems  of  public  instruction  in 
Europe.  I  refer  to  the  study  of  the  art  of  drawing.  Its 
importance  as  a  branch  of  industrial  education  will  justify 
the  space  devoted  to  its  consideration. 

This  art  was  formerly  valued  only  in  its  relation  to 
the  line  arts.     But  now  the  useful  can  no  longer  exist 


118    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

apart  from  the  beautiful,  and  consequently  there  are  few 
industries  in  which  drawing  can  be  dispensed  with.  We 
have  already  insisted  that  the  notions  of  things  come  to 
the  mind  through  the  senses,  and,  as  our  knowledge  com- 
mences with  sensible  objects,  so  the  natural  order  of 
studies  commences  with  their  reproduction.  It  improves 
both  mind  and  body,  for  the  eyes  become  accustomed  to 
seize  with  rapture  the  lineaments  of  Xature,  and  not  only 
the  color  and  outlines,  but  the  properties  of  objects  before 
us,  whether  we  are  walking,  or  eating,  or  working.  In 
fact,  drawing  is  the  lesson  of  things  which  constitute 
nearly  the  whole  action  of  human  experience. 

If  the  sight  of  an  object  pleases  a  child,  what  better 
exercise  can  he  have  than  to  copy  it  ?  He  learns  the  re- 
lations of  real  things,  not  by  didactic  teaching  which  he 
cannot  understand,  but  intuitively.  The  exercise  not 
only  educates  the  hand  and  eye,  and  in  a  higher  degree 
the  judgment  also,  but  it  excites  his  curiosity,  and  he  is 
led  to  draw  his  own  conclusions,  which  stimulates  his  de- 
sire for  knowledge.  It  is  following  the  rational  method 
of  beginning  at  the  beginning.  This  is  why  drawing 
should  be  placed  among  the  early  lessons,  and  should 
never  lose  its  place  at  the  head  of  the  programmes. 
When  the  art  of  drawing  shall  be  permanently  established 
in  all  the  public  schools,  the  cause  of  industrial  educa- 
tion will  be  nearly  accomplished,  and  its  place  marked  in 
the  new  order  of  studies. 

Massachusetts  gave  the  key-note  of  industrial  edu- 
cation in  the  United  States  by  introducing  teaching  in 
drawing  as  one  of  the  several  branches  of  instruction  in 
her  common  schools,  an  example  which  New  York  fol- 
lowed soon  afterward.     It  is  now  generally  recognized  as 


DRAWING.  119 

the  only  foundation  upon  wliich  the  useful  and  decorative 
arts  can  be  successfully  sustained,  or  upon  which  they  can 
advance  to  constantly  increasing  perfection  in  form  and 
beauty.  From  being  merely  an  ornamental  accomplish- 
ment, it  is  now  in  fact  regarded  as  an  indispensable  ele- 
ment in  all  industrial  education  ;  and  an  opinion  deduced 
from  experience  prevails  that  all  progress  in  the  produc- 
tive arts  not  only  requires  but  inexorably  demands  the 
most  comprehensive  and  accurate  knowledge  in  the  de- 
signs and  models  which  drawing  alone  can  furnish.  A 
paragraph  has  been  going  the  rounds  of  the  newspapers 
denouncing  the  teaching  of  drawing  in  our  public 
schools,  as  "  educational  filigree."  I  am  tempted  to  give 
a  passage,  as  furnishing  a  specimen  of  the  criticism  to 
which  this  study  is  sometimes  subjected.  The  writer 
says  : 

The  frantic  enthusiasm  about  drawing  which  animated 
school  boards  and  superintendents  several  years  ago  is 
getting  cooler  and  cooler;  in  many  places  the  number  of 
drawing-teachers  has  been  reduced,  and  a  pitiful  effort  is 
made  to  train  the  regular  teachers  to  the  work.  This 
enthusiasm,  unfortunately,  has  cost  a  great  deal  of  money, 
and  the  chief  practical  result  has  been  that  a  number  of 
stiff  drawings  were  exhibited  at  the  Centennial  celebra- 
tion at  Philadelphia.  Whatever  good  in  the  way  of  handi- 
work this  study  in  our  schools  has  accomplished,  could 
have  been  brought  about  in  a  wiser  way.  The  "  training 
of  the  eye  "  and  "  cultivation  of  the  tastes,"  so  much  talked 
about  by  some  of  the  people  who  make  their  living  by 
teaching  drawing  in  these  public  schools,  have,  in  all  truth 
and  sadness,  never  yet  been  discerned.  To  use  the  lan- 
guage of  common  sense,  this  is  trash.  The  training  to 
read  with  intelligence  and  appreciative  understanding  one 
famous  masterpiece    of  the  English  language  would  be 


120    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

worth  in  way  of  cultivation  a  thousand  of  these  drawing- 
lessons. 

Possibly  one  pupil  in  five  hundred  has  some  impulse 
given  to  his  hand  in  drawing  which  may  make  him  in 
after-life  a  better  mechanic.  The  other  four  hundred  and 
ninety-nine  have  meanwhile  acquired  no  deftness  which 
will  assist  them  on  the  farm,  in  the  counting-room,  or 
in  the  kitchen.  Wliy  should  all  these  be  wrongly  busied 
for  the  sake  of  one  ? 

Of  couree,  it  may  be  the  fact  that  drawing  is  not 
taught  properly  in  some  of  our  public  schools.  It  is  not 
unlikely  that  it  is  in  many  instances  badly  taught,  because 
it  is  comparatively  a  new  study,  and  there  are  so  few  that 
are  yet  qualified  to  give  instruction.  But  is  it  not  most 
unreasonable  to  argue  that  it  ought  not  to  be  taught  at 
all,  since  it  is  indisputable  that,  wherever  drawing  is 
taught  on  intelligent  principles,  it  is  the  certain  means  of 
progress  in  all  the  useful  arts  of  life  ?  Tlie  question 
whether  the  pupils  in  our  public  schools  should  be  in- 
structed in  drawing  might  be  easily  settled  if  the  dispu- 
tants would  calmly  consider  that  the  greatest  number  of 
the  children  are  to  be  the  workmen  of  the  future,  and 
that  the  methods  of  teaching  them  should  be  sliaped  in 
accordance  to  their  destiny.  No  one  can  doubt  but  that 
a  knowledge  of  drawing  will  be  an  essential  aid  to  every 
class  of  handicraftsmen,  for  it  is  the  absolute  friend  of 
every  art.  Its  predominance  is  visible  in  every  article 
fabricated  by  the  liands  or  ingenuity  of  man. 

Tlie  mistake  of  the  writer  consists  in  supposing  that 
the  duty  of  the  teacher  of  drawing  in  an  elementary  school 
is  to  turn  out  artists.  Now,  that  is  just  what  is  not 
attempted,  and  what   ought  not   to  be  expected.     The 


DRAWING.  121 

practical  use  of  drawing  to  the  pupil  is,  that  it  enables 
him  not  merely  to  make  but  to  understand  a  sketch  or 
plan  in  the  line  of  his  trade.  He  can  give  a  pictorial 
presentation  of  a  machine,  a  building,  a  bronze,  or  an 
invention,  and  he  can  work  from  it  without  instruction 
or  blundering,  without  waste  of  time  or  material,  and 
carry  out  the  design  with  taste  and  beauty.  Here  is  a 
striking  illustration  furnished  by  W.  W.  Waterman,  Su- 
perintendent of  Schools  at  Taunton,  Massachusetts.  He 
writes  that — 

Since  the  introduction  of  drawling  as  one  of  the  regu- 
lar studies  in  the  public  schools  of  Taunton,  some  ten 
years  ago,  and  the  maintenance  of  an  evening  drawing- 
school  during  the  entire  season,  a  very  decided  improve- 
ment has  been  observed  in  the  qualification  of  youth  who 
leave  the  schools  to  engage  in  the  industries  of  the  city. 
The  superintendents  of  our  machine-shops  and  other 
mechanical  establishments  report  that  formerly  great  dif- 
ficulty was  experienced  in  teaching  apprentices  to  read 
plans,  and  to  understand  the  principles  involved  in  their 
work. 

But  now  those  who  have  been  educated  in  our  schools 
generally  read  plans  quite  intelligently,  become  better 
artisans,  and  produce  a  greatly  improved  quality  of  work. 

The  superintendent  of  one  of  the  leading  locomotive- 
works  says  that  he  finds  the  services  of  the  young  men 
who  enter  his  establishment  from  our  schools  to  be  worth 
twenty-five  per  cent  more  than  formerly.  Before  the 
systematic  study  of  drawing  became  a  part  of  our  school 
course,  skilled  labor  was,  from  necessity,  brought  largely 
from  Europe.  Now  it  is  supplied  mainly  from  home 
talent. 

Similar  testimony  is  afforded  by  the  experience  of 
Miss  Powers,  teacher  of  drawing  in  the  Woman's  Art 


122    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

School,  Cooper  Union.  She  declares  that  in  the  course 
of  five  years  she  has  abundant  proof  of  the  practical  value 
of  the  instruction.  That  the  designing  departments  of 
the  artistic  trades  in  New  York,  and  even  the  architects, 
have  her  pupils  in  their  employment ;  and  that  entire 
satisfaction  has  been  experienced  by  all  the  employers  at 
the  work  they  have  done ;  and  that  one  of  them  was 
especially  cordial  in  his  appreciation  of  the  details  of  the 
class  training  in  the  study  of  ornament,  regarding  it  as 
unique,  and  such  as  many  professional  draughtsmen  stood 
greatly  in  need  of.  Some  of  the  girls  are  china-painters, 
some  make  designs  for  lace  and  embroidery,  and  in  some 
cases  actually  do  the  work.  Some  are  carpet-designers, 
and  many  are  teaching  drawing  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 
If  such  are  the  results  in  the  comparatively  short  time,  in 
a  practical  point  of  view,  since  the  introduction  of  this 
study  into  the  education  of  a  few  only  of  our  schools,  we 
cannot  doubt  but  they  will  stimulate  others  by  their 
example,  until  drawing  shall  become  as  indispensable  a 
branch  of  general  education  as  writing  itself. 

A  noticeable  feature  in  the  passage  already  referred 
to  is  the  discouraging  sneer  at  the  drawings  of  our 
schools  exhibited  at  the  Centennial  celebration  at  Phila- 
delphia. It  is  quite  popular  among  some  to  disparage  all 
attempts  at  art  by  our  countrymen.  In  this  instance  the 
writer  in  question  has  stepped  aside  to  cast  a  slur  upon 
the  specimens  of  an  art  which  is  destined  to  play  so  great 
a  part  in  the  industrial  history  of  the  United  States. 
The  French  Educational  Commissioners  to  the  Centennial 
expressed  a  very  high  degree  of  appreciation  of  the  draw- 
ings sent  by  our  schools  for  exhibition.  Professor  Walter 
Smith's  system  of  teaching  drawing  in  the  public  schools 


DRAWING.  123 

of  Massachusetts  had  been  introduced  only  two  years  be- 
fore, and,  owing  to  the  superior  merits  of  his  mode  of  in- 
struction, these  schools  had  taken  the  foremost  rank,  and 
soon  afterward  became  the  models  for  all  others.  Upon 
this  exhibition,  the  French  commissioners  remark  that 
the  public  schools  of  Massachusetts  presented  a  collective 
exhibit  extremely  remarkable,  the  most  complete  of  all, 
and  the  most  methodically  arranged  ;  and  that,  such  as 
these  works  are,  they  bear  witness  to  the  excellence  of 
the  method,  to  the  good  disposition  of  the  scholars,  as 
well  as  to  the  conscientious  and  intelligent  care  given  to 
the  instruction,  with  the  view  of  developing  the  practice 
of  practical  elementary  drawing.  "  If  we  bear  in  mind," 
they  add,  "  that  these  fruits  are  the  results  of  a  few  years 
of  trial,  we  must  admit  that  never  before  have  such  re- 
markable results  in  so  short  a  time  been  attained."  We 
know  something  of  the  French  character  ;  we  also  know 
that  no  other  people  have  given  so  much  attention  to  the 
art  of  drawing  for  two  hundred  years;  and  we  know  how 
it  has  influenced  the  industry,  the  refinement,  and  the 
power  of  their  nation.  It  is  unnecessary  to  suspect  exag- 
geration in  their  encomium.  We  may  receive  the  ad- 
miration of  these  men  with  enthusiasm,  for  it  is  the  im- 
partial record  of  their  supreme  refinement  and  perfected 
judgment,  which  we  are  at  liberty  to  set  off  against  the 
sample  of  popular  prejudice  referred  to,  but  wliich  is  fast 
dying  out. 

So  far  as  our  public  schools  are  concerned,  instruction 
in  dra\ving,  under  existing  circumstances,  ought  to  be 
directed  to  the  useful  aims  of  life — to  teach  children  as 
much  as  will  enable  them  to  represent,  in  free  outline, 
the  solid  forms  of  those  objects  with  which,  or  on  which, 


124    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

they  will  probably  work.  In  whatever  department  of 
industry  the  turn  of  mind  or  necessities  of  the  artisan 
may  lead  him  to  practice,  a  knowledge  of  pure  form  in 
drawing  will  be  the  basis  of  real  excellence  and  success. 
Every  article  may  be  made  beautiful  as  well  as  useful, 
and  the  chief  attribute  of  this  combination  is  embraced 
in  the  correctness  of  forms ;  and  the  utmost  pains  on  the 
part  of  the  teacher,  and  assiduity  on  the  part  of  the  pupil, 
should  be  exercised,  in'  order  to  acquire  accuracy  and  beau- 
ty of  outline.  It  matters  little  how  elaborately  a  bronze 
or  a  vase  may  be  finished  and  decorated,  for,  when  the 
form  is  ungraceful,  all  is  thrown  away.  Indeed,  tine  fin- 
ish and  elaborate  ornamentation  are  worse  than  thrown 
away  upon  an  ugly  form ;  for  such  are  the  growing  de- 
mands of  taste  that  articles  can  only  be  made  beautiful, 
and  therefore  salable,  if  they  conform  to  the  simple 
rules  of  drawing.  This  is  almost  equally  true  of  every 
pursuit,  whether  it  is  that  of  a  carpenter,  a  machinist,  a 
shoemaker,  a  designer,  or  a  tinsmith :  greater  excellence 
will  be  acquired  when  the  artisan  labors  Math  the  eye  and 
hand,  skilled  and  trained  in  its  practice.  It  is  not  a  mat- 
ter of  learning  only  an  art,  but  of  teaching,  in  a  great 
measure,  every  trade  that  depends  upon  design.  The 
study  requires  time  and  patience  to  acquire  it,  notwith- 
standing that  the  elements  of  drawing  are  extremely 
simple.  A  perpendicular,  a  horizontal,  and  a  curve — 
these  constitute  the  elements  of  the  art.  A  school-boy  can 
be  taught  to  translate  a  Latin  verse  into  English  by  dint 
of  years  of  study  ;  but  he  can  be  taught  with  greater  ease 
and  in  much  less  time  how,  by  the  use  of  these  sim- 
ple lines,  he  can  translate  a  solid  cube  to  a  flat  surface, 
preserving  its  appearance  to  the  eye  by  isometrical  repre- 


DRAWING.  125 

sentations  ;  and  bj  a  little  ingenuity  still  further  changing 
it  into  a  rectangle,  a  desk,  or  a  fool  stool.  Thus,  a  knowl- 
edge of  elementary  geometry  is  unconsciously  conveyed 
to  the  intelligence  without  any  strain  ujDon  the  youthful 
memory,  and  the  reflections  naturally  excited  by  the  expe- 
rience are  very  often  utilized,  if  the  pupil  is  bright,  into 
useful  forms  for  the  practical  purposes  of  life. 

When  the  lesson  requires  the  pupil  to  draw  a  leaf  or 
flower,  he  goes  among  the  herbs,  he  takes  the  flowers  in 
his  hands,  and  becomes  familiar  with  their  form,  struct- 
ure, the  arrangement  of  their  parts,  the  midrib,  stems, 
and  veins  of  plants.  These  attract  and  fascinate  his  at- 
tention, and  afford  amusing  and  easy  lessons  in  botany. 
When  he  learns  to  conventionalize  them,  he  receives 
further  insight  into  the  analysis  of  plant-life,  which  en- 
hances his  taste  for  natural  science.  And  in  the  same 
unconscious  manner  he  acquires  a  knowledge,  while  prac- 
tising the  art  of  drawing,  of  arithmetic,  architecture,  me- 
chanics, engineering,  and  anatomy,  and  he  has  the  pleas- 
ure of  feeling  that  he  learns  them  almost  alone. 

When  an  historical  design  is  placed  before  him  to  de- 
lineate, he  ])ecomes  familiar  with  the  facts  relating  to  the 
character  of  the  nations  who,  though  dead,  continue  to 
delight  and  instruct  mankind  by  the  magnificence  and 
splendor  of  their  arts.  Thus  do  these  simple  lines,  un- 
consciously to  the  scholar  himself,  promote  his  knowl- 
edge, facilitate  his  learning,  elevate  his  sentiments,  and 
qualify  him  for  honest  work  and  material  prosperity. 
Instruction  in  this  study  should  be  specially  adapted  to 
the  necessities  of  industrial  art.  The  principles  of  geo- 
metrical design  are  prominently  apparent  in  all  the  forms 
of  labor  where  construction  is  employed,  as  well   as   in 


123    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

grading  cities,  plantiog  colonies,  in  mining,  and  anatomy. 
The  characteristics  of  the  lines  and  curves  in  geometric 
drawing,  and  the  instruments  used  in  their  arrange- 
ment and  proportion,  are  essential  things,  so  far  as  a 
knowledge  of  form  is  considered,  and  should  therefore 
be  carefully  practiced  in  every  system  of  teaching.  Per- 
spective groupings  and  the  various  forms  of  projections 
are  topics  which  may  properly  be  postponed  until  the 
principles  involved  in  the  geometrical  representation  of 
objects  on  flat  surfaces  or  in  solid  forms  have  been  suc- 
cessfully mastered. 

But  corresponding  almost  in  importance  with  form  is 
the  subject  of  decoration.  Owing  to  the  peculiarities  of 
our  taste,  which  require  ornament  to  constitute  one  of  the 
principal  features  of  art-work,  a  critical  knowledge  of  its 
principles  is  a  necessary  preparation  for  every  man  who 
intends  to  work  at  a  trade.  Matters  of  proportion,  con- 
struction, and  outline,  exist  independently  of  extrinsic 
ornamentation  ;  but  all  must  acknowlege  that,  when  these 
qualities  are  associated  with  decorative  effect  in  the  same 
production,  it  commands  in  a  much  higher  degree  our 
admiration,  and  the  eye  of  the  skilled  workman  who  cre- 
ated it  or  of  the  connoisseur  contemplates  it  with  pride 
and  emotion.  The  advantage  of  an  acquaintance  with 
the  principles  of  designing  ornamental  figures,  and  of 
skill  in  the  beautiful  delineation  of  the  examples  in  an- 
cient and  modern  art,  will  be  very  manifest,  when  we 
consider  that  they  are  applied  to  all  sorts  of  textile  fab- 
rics, to  all  covering  surfaces,  such  as  wall-paper,  carpets, 
etc.,  and  to  the  various  productions  in  wood,  metal,  me- 
chanics, and  architecture.  The  different  styles  that  have 
descended  from   Egyptian,   Greek,  Roman,  and    Gothic 


DRAWING.  127 

art,  will  be  a  pleasing  and  instructive  study,  carrying 
the  mind  back  to  those  great  nations  who  have  passed 
away,  and  who  now  only  live  in  the  grandeur  and  dura- 
bility of  their  works.  The  general  rules  which  govern 
the  arrangement  and  proportion  in  the  lessons  of  de- 
sign are  simple  and  can  be  acquired  by  every  school  boy 
or  girl  possessing  a  mediocrity  of  intelligence ;  while 
in  original  designing  there  will  be  ample  scope  for  rich 
and  picturesque  combinations  when  the  pupils  are  gifted 
with  feeling  and  imagination. 

Great  excellence  in  the  art  of  decorative  design  was 
attained  hundreds  of  years  ago  ;  and  the  specimens  which 
have  survived  are  extremely  valuable,  since  many  of  the 
art-industries  which  produced  them  have  either  deterio- 
rated or  been  entirely  forgotten.  In  those  days  the  artist 
was  also  a  worker,  and  the  artisan  was  frequently  a  painter, 
an  architect,  or  a  sculptor.  Stones  and  pebbles,  furniture 
and  glass,  gold  and  silver,  were  so  beautifully  embellished 
as  to  compel  the  admiration  of  succeeding  ages.  An  in- 
terval supervened  during  which  utility  alone  was  con- 
sidered as  proper  in  useful  things;  but  within  the  last  few 
years  the  appUcation  of  art  to  industry  has  been  revived, 
and  a  disjjlay  of  the  beautiful  is  again  united  with  the 
useful,  and  a  great  improvement  is  visible  in  our  build- 
ings, our  manufactures,  and  in  the  multiplication  of  ar- 
tistic employments.  The  laboring  artist  has  reappeared, 
and  his  condition  is  marked  by  an  air  of  refinement  and 
the  general  superiority  of  his  surroundings.  Many  of 
them  receive  very  large  remuneration.  Designing  is  ris- 
ing into  the  dignity  of  a  profession,  and  many  branches 
of  ornamental  work  are  held  to  be  suitable  occupations 
for  women.      Carpets  and  wall-paper  with  beautiful  pat- 


128    EDUCATIOX  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

tern  designs,  colored  glass,  fresco-painting,  bronze-work, 
pottery,  artistic  furniture,  wood-carving,  and  the  infusion 
of  dye-stuffs,  are  rapidly  spreading  among  the  industrial 
arts  of  America.  The  movement  has  become  so  general 
as  to  be  the  fashion.  The  evidence  is  abundant  that  it  is 
also  a  genuine  feeling,  and  that  the  public  taste  is  really 
improving ;  and  it  is  just  to  say  that  the  drawing-lessons 
of  the  last  few  years  have  exercised  a  great  influence  upon 
our  industries,  and  have  served  to  promote  the  giant  strides 
of  our  manufactories. 

The  education  of  so  many  children  in  the  true  prin- 
ciples of  taste  is  gradually  infusing  a  sense  of  refine- 
ment, and  creating  not  only  a  class  of  skilled  workers, 
but  is  also  preparing  still  greater  numbers  to  appreciate 
and  purchase  their  productions. 

Indeed,  the  teaching  of  free-hand  drawing  to  the  chil- 
dren of  the  United  States,  and  of  geometrical  and  per- 
spective drawing  to  thousands  in  the  more  advanced  classes 
as  a  regular  branch  of  instruction  in  our  public  schools, 
is  a  subject  of  equal  importance  to  us  as  a  manufacturing 
people  with  that  of  writing  itself. 

An  English  author  published  a  book  in  18G9  upon  the 
"  Void  in  Modern  Education."  *  The  dignity  of  the  sub- 
ject and  the  extraordinary  merits  of  the  work  exact  pro- 
found consideration.  It  contains  many  striking  observa- 
tions concerning  the  deficiencies  in  the  present  systems 
of  education,  particularly  in  regard  to  the  art  of  drawing, 
which  more  than  any  other  study  is  calculated  to  awaken 
tlie  feelings  and  the  sentiments,  while  at  the  same  time  it 
is  incomparably  the  best  means  of  expressing  form,  being 
greatly  superior  to  language  for  this  purpose ;    and  ho 

*  Outi3. 


DRAWING.  129 

iirg;es  that  more  convincing  evidence  of  knowledge  can  be 
obtained  on  all  matters  conversant  with  form  by  means  of 
a  few  strokes  of  the  pencil  than  by  an  hour's  verbal  ex- 
amination. He  admits  that  it  may  be  inferior  to  model- 
ing where  solidity  is  concerned,  yet  it  is  greatly  superior 
in  point  of  rapid  execution  and  a  facility  for  exhibiting 
the  relation  of  parts,  which,  often  underlying  one  another, 
can  only  be  shown  by  the  dotted  or  faint  lines  of  the  cray- 
ons ;  and  in  speaking  of  the  practical  uses  of  drawing  he 
observes  that — 

It  would  he  idle  to  follow  in  detail  all  tliose  voca- 
tions wherein  drawing  is  equally  or  even  more  important : 
as  in  civil  and  military  engineering,  for  instance,  where  it 
is  simply  indispensable  ;  in  scientific  voyages  of  discovery, 
where  it  is  c(iually  so ;  in  all  branches  of  natural  history, 
where  it  is  in  special  demand  ;  in  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments, where  it  is  variously  employed  both  in  designs 
for  textile  fabrics  and  for  patterns  of  all  kinds  ;  in  up- 
holstery, cabinet-making,  cutlery,  and  for  the  various  and 
all  but  infinite  reqnirements  of  the  silversmith,  watch- 
maker, jeweler,  and  the  maker  of  musical,  astronomical, 
surgical,  and  mathematical  instruments ;  not  to  mention 
its  value  to  the  potter,  the  turner,  the  decorator,  the  mason, 
the  carver,  the  frame-maker,  and  almost  every  manufact- 
uring tradesman. 

As  far  back  as  the  time  of  Charlemagne,  France 
founded  schools  for  teaching  drawing  to  her  children ; 
and,  before  the  period  of  the  Eenaissancc,  schools  existed 
in  Paris,  Normandy,  Burgundy,  Breton,  and  at  various 
points  in  the  south,  so  that  she  Nvas  better  prepared  to 
understand  and  adopt  the  new  movement,  which  she 
soon  developed  into  the  most  magnificent  compositions  in 
decorative  art.     From  the  reign  of  Francis  I,  different 


130    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY, 

styles  followed  each  other,  distinguished  by  the  names 
of  her  kings,  who  reigned  successively  until  the  monarchy 
was  abolished.  During  each  epoch  generations  of  artists 
were  educated,  and  France  became  the  school  to  which 
those  of  other  nations  resorted  for  improvement.  As  late 
as  the  year  1880  the  municipal  authorities  of  Paris  con- 
tributed to  their  primary  schools  nearly  $2,000,000  per 
annum  for  instruction  in  drawing  alone,  in  addition  to 
about  $100,000  for  the  support  of  art  night-classes.  And 
the  state  gave  upward  of  $20,000,000  to  promote  the 
same  study  in  the  state  schools,  where  free  instruction  is 
given  to  all  comers. 

Although  the  French  styles  of  ornament  and  form 
have  been  subjected  to  much  criticism,  it  is  undeniable 
that  the  French  ornamentists  became  skillful  in  beautiful 
figures,  in  coloring  and  in  innumerable  designs  on  glass 
and  canvas,  and  on  woven  textures,  in  painting,  engrav- 
ing, in  locksmith  and  goldsmith  work,  in  pottery,  in  cabi- 
net furniture  and  bronze,  in  all  of  which  the  science  of 
beauty  and  skill  was  so  clearly  revealed  that  she  has  been 
justly  regarded  as  the  modern  founder  of  "  art-industry." 
Hence,  also,  her  beautiful  pictures,  and  her  wonderful  de- 
velopment of  art  in  every  branch  of  manufactures  and 
industry.  She  not  only  supplies  us  with  countless  articles 
of  luxury  and  enjoyment,  which  we  do  not  so  well  pro- 
duce, for  want  of  her  educated  skill,  but  in  nine  cases 
out  of  ten  it  will  be  found  that,  in  many  of  our  home 
trades  and  manufactures  which  depend  upon  art  or  finish, 
her  artisans  have  been  imported  into  this  country  to  fill 
the  leading  positions,  and  her  designs  and  patterns  are 
either  taken  bodily  or  slavishly  imitated.  Her  marvelous 
wealth  springs  largely  from  the  superiority  of  her  fabrics ; 


DRAWING.  131 

and  the  spirit  of  beauty  which  adorns  them  is  the  natural 
result  of  art-education  in  lier  workmen. 

Great  Britain  within  the  last  thirty  years  has  included 
teaching  drawing  in  her  public  schools,  or  rather  in  those 
which  receive  assistance  from  the  Government,  and  in  ad- 
dition there  are  thousands  of  evening-classes  for  the  in- 
struction of  those  who  cannot  attend  in  the  day-time; 
and  the  number  of  pupils  has  gone  on  increasing  from 
year  to  year,  until  in  1879  there  were  no  less  than  59,500 
students  in  the  science  and  art  schools,  and  795,000  in  the 
elementary  schools,  receiving  instruction  in  drawing,  at 
a  cost  to  the  state  of  $658,600.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
amount  expended  in  Great  Britain  is  insignificant  in 
comparison  with  what  is  spent  in  France  for  the  same 
objects.  But  it  is  apparent  in  both  countries,  and  indeed 
all  over  the  Continent,  that  the  onward  progress  of  art  as 
applied  to  industry  depends  largely  upon  the  interest 
which  government  takes  in  its  promotion,  and  that  the 
cultivation  of  art  and  technical  education  will  advance 
the  social  well-being  of  the  people  at  large ;  and  that,  the 
more  thoroughly  educated  they  are,  the  more  rapidly  they 
will  excel  in  all  that  is  essential  to  the  general  prosperity. 

In  Massachusetts,  New  York,  and  many  other  places 
in  this  country,  lessons  in  drawing  are  brought  within  the 
reach  of  every  child  of  the  comnmnity  ;  and  evening- 
classes  are  also  opened  in  some  of  the  large  towns  for  the 
instruction  of  all  who  may  come.  Right  here  in  "Wash- 
ington, drawing  is  taught  in  the  public  schools,  not  as  a 
speciality,  but  in  the  regular  course  of  study.  Drawings 
by  the  pupils  have  been  exhibited  for  two  years  annually 
(1882)  for  public  inspsction  :  and  the  fact  that  such  ex- 
hibitions are  visited  by  thousands  of  the  citizens  not  only 


132    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

displays  liow  general  is  the  interest,  but  inspires  the  hope 
that  this  art  with  its  refining  and  commanding  influence 
is  gradually  assuming  its  true  position  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  common  school  education.  It  is  absolutely  ne- 
cessary that  all  the  business  and  industrial  classes  should 
understand  this  practical  art  in  the  utilitarian  struggle  of 
this  age  and  country.  All  the  callings  and  pursuits  that 
are  brought  into  competition  with  each  other  stand  ready 
to  appropriate  every  revelation  of  art  or  science  that  can 
promote  their  interest.  Science  is  no  longer  speculative, 
and  art  is  no  longer  confined  to  mere  artistic  effect. 
They  are  applied  to  all  the  industries  of  society  :  and 
the  competition  is  so  keen  that  he  who  knows  best  how 
to  apply  them  to  the  processes  of  production  is  sure  of 
success.  The  inventor,  the  artificer,  the  workman,  and 
the  manufacturer  are  all  interested  in  a  study  that  so 
deeply  concerns  their  several  pursuits.  Architecture, 
bridge-making,  every  species  of  machinery  and  internal 
improvement ;  every  instrument  associated  with  our  labor 
or  convenience ;  our  china  and  earthenware ;  the  fabrics 
which  are  so  delicate  in  texture,  so  brilliant  and  harmo- 
nious in  color,  and  so  striking  in  general  elegance  of  style, 
as  well  as  the  articles  in  the  parlor,  the  kitchen,  the  j^an- 
try,  and  indeed  all  the  improvements  in  modern  life  serve 
to  illustrate  the  principles  of  design,  and  are  manufac- 
tured and  fashioned  from  geometrical  patterns  and  out- 
line representations,  which  were  prepared  in  the  first  in- 
stance by  the  draughtsman  ;  and,  unless  these  objects  had 
been  symmetrically  drawn  before  they  were  made,  they 
would  never  have  existed,  except  in  clumsy  forms,  and 
perhaps  so  illy  constructed  that  many  of  them  would 
have  been  dangerous  to  the  public. 


APPLICATION  OF  DRAWING.  133 

The  art  of  drawing  is  used  in  many  cases  where  its 
employment  is  little  suspected.  Look  at  a  lady  in  full 
dress,  and  consider  by  what  rules  her  bonnet  was  plaited, 
her  laces  were  woven,  her  stockings  were  knitted,  her 
comb  was  ornamented,  her  ribbons  were  flowered,  her 
buttons  were  molded,  her  necklaces  and  bracelets  were 
fashioned,  her  shoes  and  even  the  rosettes  on  her  instep 
were  executed  ;  and  the  answer  will  be  that  they  were 
all  devised  by  designs  in  drawing,  and  not  a  single  feat- 
ure of  this  lovely  assemblage  was  left  to  chance  or  acci- 
dent. 

The  building  of  the  poor  man's  cottage  is  according 
to  plans  and  specitications.  Its  boards,  beams,  roof,  and 
floors  are  sawed,  tongiied,  and  matched  to  fit  each  other 
according  to  the  draughts,  as  are  also  the  doors  and  win- 
dows of  the  humble  dwelling.  The  manufacturers  of  the 
simplest  instruments — like  the  hoe,  the  spade,  the  rake, 
the  pickaxe,  the  scythe,  the  sickle,  the  reaper,  chairs,  and 
bedsteads — all  have  draughting-offices  connected  with  their 
establishments.  The  machinist  who  makes  the  shears 
with  which  the  shepherd  clips  tha  flock,  and  the  ma- 
chinery which  cards,  and  spins,  and  weaves,  the  fleece 
into  cloth,  is  dependent  upon  his  practical  designs.  The 
mason  cuts  the  stone  upon  which  he  bestows  such  pro- 
digious labor  by  the  same  rules.  The  beautiful  work  be- 
stowed upon  the  granite  blocks  in  the  Government  edi- 
fices at  Washington,  and  by  which  they  are  made  to  fit 
into  their  places  in  those  magnificent  structures  like 
sculjjtured  figures  into  their  niches,  although  transported 
hundreds  of  miles,  are  prepared  by  the  same  means. 

We  learn  from  the  newspapers  that  never  before  were 
such  costly  structures  in  course  of  erection  in  New  York 


134:    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

(1882).  It  has  been  stated  tliat  buildings  were  construct- 
ed last  year  in  that  city  at  a  cost  of  nearly  $100,000,000, 
and  that  the  furnishing  and  decorations  would  amount 
to  as  much  more.  Instances  are  stated  of  $60,000  having 
been  expended  in  decorating  a  single  apartment.  The 
taste  of  her  millionaires  is  expressed  in  ornamentation  of 
their  dwellings  outside  as  well  as  inside,  and  workmen 
are  brought  over  from  Europe  to  carve  the  stone  traceries 
and  figures  on  their  house-fronts.  Every  figure  must  be 
cut  by  an  imported  artisan,  and,  of  course,  the  delay  and 
expense  are  enormous.  One  of  the  wealthy  citizens  is 
erecting  three  buildings  of  this  description,  and  the  orna- 
mental work  has  to  wait  till  these  artists  from  Europe  are 
ready  to  do  it.  Four  other  elegant  mansions  are  also 
mentioned,  one  of  which  will  have  a  single  imported 
chimney-piece  that  cost  $4,800,  made  of  wood — which  is 
not  a  scarce  article  in  this  wooden  country — and  a  foreign 
sculptor  will  design  the  artistic  details  of  the  entrances. 

It  is  useless  to  find  fault  with  afiluent  gentlemen  be- 
cause they  insist  upon  having  the  best.  They  are  able 
and  willing  to  pay  for  it.  Besides,  it  is  natural  for 
wealth  and  travel  to  produce  refinement,  and,  where  re- 
finement exists,  it  is  more  or  less  the  companion  of  fastid- 
iousness. It  is,  moreover,  far  better  for  them  to  spend 
their  money  in  giving  employment  to  others  than  to  give 
it  away.  We  should  also  bear  in  mind  that  fine  speci- 
mens of  architecture  are  among  the  noblest  works  of 
human  genius,  and  symbolize  the  collective  art,  science, 
and  wisdom  of  the  people.  The  aboriginal  Greek,  who 
lived  in  a  hovel,  had  no  foreknowledge  of  the  Athenian 
Acropolis ;  and  perhaps  nothing  gives  us  a  finer  idea  of 
that  antique  grandeur  than  its  monuments.     A  temple  of 


APPLICATION   OF  DRAWING.  135 

Phidias  gives  us  as  sensible  an  image  of  Greek  character 
as  an  ode  of  Pindar.  If  the  buildings  which  have  in- 
vited these  remarks  will  present  an  arrangement  and 
style  illustrating  the  elements  of  taste  as  applied  to  archi- 
tecture and  the  particular  ideas  of  modern  life  and  re- 
quirements in  our  dwellings  and  public  edifices,  they  will 
serve  as  models  for  the  opulent,  and  will  stimulate  the 
sentiments  and  ambition  of  our  architects,  builders,  me- 
chanics, and  decorators,  and  so  hasten  the  movement  now 
commenced  for  art-education  as  applied  to  the  current 
facts  of  our  condition. 


CHAPTER   YIIL 

The  decorative  arts  depend  upon  principles  of  design  —  Their  position 
between  the  useful  and  scientific — Their  immense  development — Ro- 
man and  Greek  decoration  —  Pompeii  —  Its  uncovered  ornaments  — 
Moorish  decoration — Its  magnificence  and  extent  —  Table-service  for 
the  President — Glass-blowers  sent  to  the  United  States — Immigration — 
Skilled  occupations  of  immigrants — The  economic  value  of  immigrants 
— Influx  of  cheap  labor — Exclusion  of  Chinese — William  A.  Carsey — 
An  American  mechanic  on  the  tariff,  cheap  labor,  etc. — Cheap  labor 
from  abroad — Trades-unions  limiting  the  number  of  apprentices — 
Growth  of  our  productive  force,  and  of  our  population — Skilled  labor 
enriches  our  industries — "  Sheffield  is  coming  to  America  " — American 
steel  exhibit  —  American  porcelain  —  Palissy  —  Wedgwood  —  Glad- 
stone's speech — Wedgwood's  improvements  —  Ilis  beautiful  produc- 
tions— Palissy— Enameled  pottery  rediscovered  by  him — Our  work  in 
pottery — Our  styles  and  workers  obtained  from  abroad — Centennial 
vase — New  branch  of  industry — Every  potter  should  be  a  draughtsman 
— Drawing  as  a  study — Colored  patterns  for  cotton  and  woolen  fab- 
rics— The  use  of  machinery  in  printing — Chemistry  in  that  art — Value 
of  drawing  in  it — It  yields  the  grand  secret  of  modern  industry — 
Universal  practice  of  drawing  in  skilled  work  —  Should  be  taught  to 
all — The  beautiful  is  overlooked — It  is  a  universal  element  in  nature. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  conceive  how  many  employ- 
ments accompany  a  refined  condition  of  the  decorative 
arts.  The  number  of  pursuits  which  they  have  furnished 
to  skilled  labor  during  recent  years  have  been  so  great 
that  it  is  difficult  to  classify  them,  or  to  observe  any  sys- 
tematic plan  in  arranging  them  ;  but  it  is  still  true  that 


DECORATIVE   ART  AT  POMPEII.  137 

they  all  depend  upon  a  knowledge  of  drawing  and  the 
principles  of  design.  The  position  of  these  arts  is  pecul- 
iar, for  it  must  be  confessed  that  they  are  not  ranked  as 
purely  useful,  or  as  strictly  scientific,  but  rather  they  di- 
vide the  ground  between  these  two,  and  are  closely  con- 
nected with  both.  These  considerations  are  of  growing 
interest  to  the  intelligent  artisan  and  the  far-seeing  friend 
of  industrial  education,  for  their  development  in  our  day 
is  simply  immense.  And  here  a  little  detail  becomes  ne- 
cessary, and  the  continuity  of  the  argument  will  occa- 
sionally be  slightly  interrupted  by  illustrations  showing 
the  use  of  drawing  and  design  in  the  arts  and  manufact- 
ures, but  it  will  still  be  drawing,  for  design  is  the  very 
soul  of  art-industry  and  the  perfection  of  its  work. 

The  character  and  form  of  Greek  and  Roman  deco- 
ration are  illustrated  by  the  rich  colorings  and  beautiful 
vignettes  of  Pompeii,  that  have  not  lost  their  luster  in  all 
these  centuries.  !Not  only  mosaics  and  frescoes  embel- 
lish the  facings  of  the  uncovered  dwellings,  but  the  trav- 
eler observes  bright  pictures  of  birds,  and  beasts,  and 
fishes,  together  with  hunting-scenes  of  the  liveliest  kind, 
horses  in  full  chase,  wild-fowl  and  game  in  the  range  of 
a  perspective  of  rocks,  rivers,  woods,  and  green  hills, 
upon  the  walls  of  a  dining-room.  In  other  apartments 
are  seen  picturesque  and  striking  ornamental  work  in 
great  variety,  elaborate  mosaics  and  paintings  representing 
figures  of  animals,  scenes  from  every-day  life,  and  the 
forms  of  gods  and  goddesses,  rendered  still  more  efifective 
by  the  freshness  of  the  overhanging  skies  and  clouds.  The 
marble  steps  and  fountains  in  the  court-yards  appear  very 
wonderful,  even  to  those  most  familiar  with  such  objects. 
The  works  of  their  hands  testify  how  well  the  Pompeiian 


138    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

artisans  could  use  the  coloring  substances  with  which 
they  were  acquainted,  and  elaborate  the  most  beautiful 
designs  as  a  matter  of  ordinary  skill  and  taste.  Besides 
these,  there  are  hundreds  of  objects  gathered  in  the  mu- 
seums upon  which  art  has  been  employed  to  ornament 
them  and  give  a  pleasing  effect  to  the  eye ;  perpetuating 
a  representation  of  the  domestic  characteristics  of  the 
Pompeiians,  and  of  the  great  extent  and  variety  of  their 
industry,  their  luxury,  and  their  workmanship.  Says  a 
recent  tourist,  "  I  should  like  to  spend  a  week  at  Pom- 
peii every  year,  if  only  to  watch  the  uncovering  and  revel 
in  the  new  findings."  The  graceful  outlines  and  mathe- 
matical precision  show  how  much  care  the  Pompeiian 
designer  bestowed  upon  his  work. 

The  wealth  and  splendor  of  the  Moorish  cities  in  Spain 
would  be  incredible  were  not  the  facts  corroborated  by 
historians  whose  truthfulness  has  never  been  questioned. 
A  French  author,  whose  book  has  been  charmingly  trans- 
lated into  our  own  language  by  an  American  lady,  assures 
us  that  the  Moorish  provinces  at  the  time  of  Abderrahman 
were  extremely  populous ;  that  there  existed  on  the  shores 
of  the  Guadalquivir  twelve  thousand  villages,  and  that  a 
traveler  could  not  proceed  through  the  country  without 
encountering  some  hamlet  every  quarter  of  an  hour  ;  that 
there  existed  in  the  dominions  of  that  caliph  eighty  great 
cities,  three  hundred  of  the  second  order,  and  an  infinite 
number  of  smaller  towns  ;  that  Cordova,  the  capital  of 
the  kingdom,  inclosed  within  its  walls  two  hundred  thou- 
sand houses  and  nine  hundred  public  baths. 

These  vast  cities  must  have  been  the  homes  of  indus- 
try and  the  asylums  of  useful  and  decorative  art ;  and 
their  magnificence  must  have  furnished  constant  employ- 


MORISCO   ART.  139 

merit  to  multitudes  of  cunning  workers.  The  Koran 
prohibited  any  pictorial  representation  of  human  beings 
or  animals ;  and  this  interdict  modified  to  a  great  extent 
the  superficial  expression  of  Morisco  art,  of  which  a  great 
many  beautiful  descriptions  have  been  written  by  Wash- 
ington Irving.  Here  were  seen  in  endless  variety  the 
diagonal  arabesques  filled  with  foliage,  and  stalks,  and 
flowers.  Here  also  was  invented,  or  at  least  perfected, 
the  fine  stucco-work  for  use  upon  walls  and  divided  into 
panels,  or  modeled  into  fanciful  shapes,  with  ornaments 
cut  into  the  material,  or  sculptured  into  bas-reliefs  by 
hand  upon  the  surface.  Here,  also,  were  first  used  the 
tile-casings  for  a  great  variety  of  ornamental  purposes ; 
frette-work  much  more  elaborate  than  that  of  the  Greeks 
and  the  trefoil  of  the  Egyptians,  to  give  increasing  rich- 
ness to  their  arabesques.  The  buildings  were  rendered 
still  more  beautiful  by  marble  pavements,  and  light  and 
graceful  columns,  richly  gilded ;  and  exquisite  geomet- 
rical designs  in  brilliant  and  enduring  colors  ;  open  fili- 
gree-work shining  upon  arches  white  with  marble,  and 
penciled  with  inlays  that  are  still  admired  by  artists  of 
every  kind.  Indeed,  when  reading  Mr.  Irving's  descrip- 
tion, you  feel  as  if  you  had  before  you  a  scene  of  en- 
chantment. 

We  have  little  information  what  the  condition  of  the 
skilled  workmen  was  in  that  country  or  in  Pompeii ;  but, 
from  the  technical  and  manipidative  skill  displayed  in 
their  effects,  it  is  evident  that  they  were  well  trained  in 
the  theory  and  practice  of  design.  It  is  also  evident,  from 
the  multiplicity  and  magnificence  of  their  works,  that 
they  must  have  been  a  very  numerous  and  powerful  part 
of  the  people  ;  and  we  are  justified  in  assuming  that  their 


140    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

condition  corresponded  in  some  degree  to  the  superiority 
of  their  education  and  refinement.  The  author  cannot 
enter  into  the  particulars  of  their  form  and  style  of  orna- 
ment. The  characteristics  of  both  are  familiar  to  the 
professional  student,  and  they  are  here  referred  to  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  that  art-industry  when  founded  upon 
design  is  unlimited,  that  its  treasures  are  endless,  and 
that  its  augmentations  to  human  pursuits  will  never  cease. 

But  to  return  to  our  own  condition.  An  instance  of 
our  want  of  educated  workers  is  strikingly  exemplified 
in  the  porcelain  table-service  for  the  President  to  be  used 
in  the  White  House.  About  five  or  six  years  ago  the  at- 
tention of  the  whole  country  was  called  to  this  extraordi- 
nary achievement  of  American  art.  It  was  ordered  of  the 
Havilands,  of  New  York,  and  they  engaged  Mr.  Davis,  of 
the  same  place,  to  prepare  the  drawings.  The  porcelain 
was  nevertheless  made  at  their  famous  pottery  in  Limoges, 
France,  and  the  French  china-painters  used  the  drawings 
after  the  style  in  which  they  are  accustomed  to  do  their 
own  work ;  and  all  the  persons  engaged  on  the  job  were 
Frenchmen,  except  Mr.  Davis,  who  is  English  by  birth. 
Let  us  not  pretend  to  criticise  this  table-service  ;  but  the 
arrangement  lately  suggested  to  lock  it  up  is  entitled  to 
respect.  At  all  events,  it  cannot  be  exclusively  claimed 
as  a  specimen  of  American  workmanship,  which  removes 
much  of  the  responsibility  for  its  hizarre  appearance. 

A  case  also  occurred  in  the  glass-manufacture  in  the 
United  States  within  a  few  years.  A  diflBculty  was  ex- 
perienced in  obtaining  glass-blowers,  and  steps  were  taken 
to  obtain  workmen  from  England.  One  of  the  results  of 
this  was,  that  about  fifty  work-people — men  of  experi- 
ence in  all  branches  of   glass-manufacture — sailed  from 


^L 


SKILLED  LABOR  FROM  ABROAD.  141 

Liverpool  for  this  country,  induced  to  come  here  by  tlie 
high  wages  offered  by  the  agents  of  the  American  glass- 
makers. 

The  deplorable  lack  of  native  skill  in  art-labor  is  not 
confined  to  ornamental  work  on  our  buildings,  or  in  the 
decorative  arts  in  pottery  or  glass-making ;  it  was  nearly 
universal  until  quite  recently. 

This  incident  affords  an  opportunity  for  a  brief  di- 
gression upon  the  subject  of  imported  skilled  labor  which 
is  becoming  a  very  suggestive  subject  to  the  people 
of  this  country,  especially  those  who  work.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  vast  tide  of  immigration,  to  the  United 
States  which  attracts  a  more  grateful  interest  than  the 
large  number  of  skilled  workmen  it  includes.  The  table 
showing  the  number  of  immigrants,  according  to  their 
occupations,  prepared  by  Mr.  Nimmo,  of  the  Treasury 
Department,  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1880, 
makes  the  foUo'ving  exhibit : 

Professional  occupations 1,TY2 

Skilled  occupations 49,929 

Miscellaneous  occupations.  ...    188,109 

Occupations  not  stated 2,19-1 

Without  occupation 215,252 

These  figures  are  well  calculated  to  attract  attention. 
While  every  vocation  and  every  profession  in  the  United 
States,  however  crowded,  receives  large  accessions  from 
this  mighty  influx,  we  cannot  but  express  our  regret  at 
the  disproportion  between  those  who  have  skilled  occu- 
pations and  those  who  have  none  at  all.  It  is  significant, 
if  not  alarming.  Out  of  a  total  of  457,257,  there  were 
only  49^929  of  the  former,  while  of  the  latter  there  were 


142    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

215,252,  In  other  words,  those  having  no  occupation 
are  far  in  excess  of  the  other  immigrants,  and  nearly 
equal  to  them  all  combined.  Out  of  those  landing  at 
Castle  Garden,  143,182  remained  in  New  York  citj 
alone.  Whether  the  social  and  domestic  influences  of 
the  American  element,  and  its  superiority  in  energy  and 
experience,  will  be  able  to  assimilate  this  enormous  ac- 
cession to  its  population  in  a  single  city,  and  redeem  it 
from  the  cosmopolitan  character  of  the  new-comers,  is  a 
question  that  must  be  postponed  for  results  to  determine. 
That  year,  to  be  sure,  is  distinguished  by  the  largest  im- 
misrration  that  has  ever  been  witnessed  in  the  whole 
history  of  the  country ;  but  it  is  considered  quite  certain 
that  the  number  of  immigrants  for  the  present  year  (1882) 
will  greatly  exceed  it.  Nor  is  it  wonderful  that  the 
eager  eyes  of  the  people  in  Europe  should  be  turned  to- 
ward the  enchanting  temptations  of  the  West ;  for  when 
they  come  here  willing  to  engage  in  honest  work,  or 
qualified  in  the  best  modes  of  improving  our  industry, 
and  developing  to  a  higher  degree  the  arts  of  manufact- 
ure and  the  facilities  of  production,  we  are  glad  to  re- 
ceive them  under  the  flag  of  the  Great  Republic,  and  to 
make  them  co-equals  in  our  prosperity  and  freedom.  Our 
land  is  the  neutral  ground  on  which  men  of  all  creeds 
and  nationalities  can  meet  with  safety,  and  enjoy  the  ad- 
vantages of  political  institutions  essentially  free.  It  is 
the  permanent  home  of  the  husbandman,  the  artisan,  and 
the  industrious  workman.  The  economic  value  of  this 
kind  of  immigration  has  materially  helped  to  swell  our 
marvelous  growth  in  wealth  as  well  as  in  population. 
But  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  the  country  gains 
more  than  it  suffers  from  the  sweeping  tide  of  immi- 


IMMIGRATION.  143 

grants  who,  we  have  seen,  have  no  vocation  to  depend 
upon  for  a  livelihood.  Undoubtedly  among  these  last  be- 
long the  horde  of  ignorant  and  useless  bummers  who  sell 
their  votes  and  undertake  the  management  of  municipal 
affairs,  and  whose  presence  here  adds  to  the  difficulties 
with  which  our  institutions  have  to  contend. 

This  influx  of  cheap  labor,  and  of  people  having  no 
occupation  whatever,  is  assuming  the  guise  of  a  serious 
problem,  and  there  is  a  growing  sense  of  responsibility 
for  its  practical  consideration.  It  is  of  essential  conse- 
quence, as  bearing  upon  the  question  of  wages  ;  and  were 
it  not  for  the  sensitiveness  of  politicians  the  whole  sub- 
ject would  at  no  distant  day  be  exposed  to  the  scrutiny 
of  universal  suffrage.  The  exclusion  of  the  Chinese,  who 
had  no  vote,  is  yet  fresh ;  but  their  numbers  all  told 
would  not  exceed  the  arrivals  at  Castle  Garden  in  a  single 
month.  It  would  be  instructive,  for  those  who  were  so 
alarmed  at  the  presence  of  a  few  Asiatics,  to  visit  that 
place  for  the  debarkation  of  immigrants,  and  compare 
its  social  elements  with  those  of  China  Town  in  San 
Francisco.  If  he  were  alarmed  before,  he  cannot  be 
gratified  with  the  spectacle  he  now  sees. 

Among  the  persons  who  appeared  before  the  Tariff 
Commission,  during  its  recent  session  in  the  city  of  Kew 
York,  was  an  American  mechanic  by  the  name  of  William 
A.  Carsey,  who  had  the  courage  and  independence  to  ex- 
press some  wholesome  truths  directly  in  point.  He  made  a 
statement  in  behalf,  he  said,  of  that  large  class  of  work- 
ing-men who  had  a  bitter  experience  of  the  folly  of  strikes, 
and  he  declared  it  to  be  for  the  interest  of  all  classes  that 
American  industries  should  be  protected  against  all  for- 
eign competitive  interests,  or  else  the  American  laborer 


144    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

must  be  reduced  to  the  wages  and  condition  of  the  Eu- 
ropean laborer ;  he  therefore  asked  not  only  for  a  tariff 
on  all  goods  and  materials  that  can  be  produced  in  this 
country,  but  also  for  the  prevention  of  the  importation 
of  cheap  labor.  He  said  that  those  for  whom  he  spoke 
tried  to  be  practical  and  just,  and  asked  only  for  that 
which  was  admitted  to  be  necessary  to  their  own  protec- 
tion ;  that  if  the  country  was  flooded  with  cheap  goods 
and  cheap  labor,  the  result  would  be  a  war  of  classes, 
strikes,  riots,  and  armed  rebellion  ;  and  he  suggested  that 
the  commissioners  should  visit  Castle  Garden  and  see  the 
classes  of  peojDle  that  are  being  introduced  from  Europe 
to  take  the  place  of  American  workmen,  and  then  visit 
the  tenement  sections  of  the  city  to  witness  their  mode 
of  living. 

This  statement  appeals  at  once  to  our  reason  and 
sympathies.  The  immense  importation  of  foreign  labor 
is  rapidly  reducing  the  condition  of  the  American  work- 
ing-man to  that  of  an  alien  in  his  own  country,  and  is 
gradually  achieving  the  conquest  of  our  national  indus- 
tries. At  least,  the  undeniable  tendency  is  the  reduction 
of  wages  for  all  kinds  of  work  in  the  United  States  to 
the  standard  which  prevails  in  Europe.  The  American 
workman,  whether  native  or  naturalized — and  I  put  them 
both  on  the  same  footing — cannot  sufficiently  consider  an 
influence  which  bears  so  directly  upon  his  life,  his  com- 
fort, and  upon  that  of  his  family  and  associates.  The 
evil  is  greatly  increased  by  the  conduct  of  powerful 
corporations,  who  find  it  less  expensive  to  import  their 
hands  from  across  the  ocean  than  to  increase  the  wages 
of  those  they  have  to  a  fair  living  standard. 

Tlie  trades-unions  have  incurred  a  serious  responsibil- 


TRADES-UNIONS  AND  APPRENTICESHIP.  145 

ity  in  this  relation.  They  are  composed,  I  dare  say,  of  in- 
telligent and  respectable  workmen,  who  sincerely  believe 
that,  by  limiting  the  number  of  apprentices,  they  are  pro- 
viding a  safeguard  for  their  own  craft  and  protection. 
In  this,  it  seems,  they  are  mistaken ;  for  the  demand  for 
skilled  labor  will  be  supplied  from  the  surplus  in  Europe, 
if  it  is  not  furnished  by  our  own  people.  Within  the 
last  ten  years  such  have  been  the  giant  strides  of  our 
manufactures  that  they  are  quite  equal  to  one  fourth  part 
of  the  products  of  all  Europe  combined.  Our  domestic 
commerce  has  advanced  until  it  exceeds  that  of  any  na- 
tion on  the  globe.  Within  the  same  period  our  popula- 
tion has  increased  to  fifty  millions,  and  we  have  construct- 
ed railroads  in  various  parts  of  the  country  sufficient  in 
length  to  form  a  circle  twice  around  the  earth's  surface. 
Our  foreign  commerce — albeit  in  foreign  ships — extends 
to  every  cranny  of  man's  habitation.  The  manufacturing 
power  of  the  country  has  nearly  quadrupled,  and  all 
forms  of  skilled  trades  have  multiplied  in  the  same  pro- 
portion ;  and  yet  the  unions,  failing  to  appreciate  these 
mighty  transformations,  adhere  to  their  suicidal  policy, 
and  the  workshop  from  which  the  American  boy  is  ex- 
cluded is  supplied  by  the  surplus  skilled  labor  of  other 
nations.  While  this  condition  continues,  there  is  no  other 
alternative  except  to  have  an  immigration  sufficiently 
liberal  to  supply  the  deficiency. 

The  value  of  the  skilled  workers  is  undeniable.  As 
a  general  rule,  they  come  to  this  country  as  affording  a 
wider  field  of  employment  and  greater  promise  of  per- 
manent individual  success,  and  through  every  stage  of 
our  progress  we  owe  much  to  their  instruction  in  many 
of  the  arts  of  life.     We  have  not  only  naturalized  them 


146    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

in  our  citizenship,  but  we  have  also  naturalized  their 
ingenuity,  their  workmanship,  and  much  of  what  belongs 
to  the  skilled  methods  of  their  industry.  We  need  not 
hesitate  to  acknowledge  these  benefits,  for  even  the  Greeks 
were  indebted  for  the  useful  and  even  the  most  necessary 
arts  to  foreign  instructors  during  every  period  of  their 
transcendent  history,  and  it  was  only  after  going  through 
centuries  of  toil  and  hard  work  that  Germany,  France, 
and  Great  Britain  have  taken  their  rank  among  the  civ- 
ilized nations  of  the  earth.  Their  artisans  are  lured  to 
this  country,  where  they  find  a  rich  reward  in  reproduc- 
ing what  is  valuable  in  their  arts  to  enrich  our  industry 
and  promote  our  prosperity.  They  receive  employment 
among  the  builders  of  New  York,  the  potters  of  Xew 
Jersey,  the  glass-makers  of  Pittsburg,  the  silk-weavers, 
the  carpet-makers,  the  steel-manufacturers,  the  jewelers, 
the  gold  and  silver  smiths,  the  machinists,  the  iron-found- 
ers, the  bronze  artists,  the  fresco-painters,  the  decorators, 
and  indeed  in  all  other  industries  where  artistic  work- 
manship and  the  art  of  design  are  the  secrets  of  suc- 
cess. 

We  shall  undoubtedly  continue  to  be  dependent  upon 
skilled  labor  from  Europe  until  art  education  at  home 
becomes  a  reality.  Until  this  want  is  supplied  the  intro- 
duction of  skilled  workmen  is  a  subject  of  special  con- 
gratulation. It  is  the  addition  to  our  population  which 
leads  to  the  successful  establishment  of  new  industries 
and  the  improvement  of  old  ones.  By  such  means  we 
are  already  enabled  to  enter  into  competition  with  the 
artistic  workmanship  of  Europe  in  several  of  its  most 
important  industries.  As  an  instance,  "  SheflSeld  is  com- 
ing to  America,"  is  the  heading  of  a  paragraph  which 


AMERICAN  PORCELAIX.  14Y 

announces  that  a  well-known  business  house  in  that  city 
enffaored  in  the  manufacture  of  steel  for  the  American 
market,  has  organized  a  company  for  the  manufacture  of 
steel  here.  The  workmen  are  from  Sheffield,  and  the 
aim  of  the  company  will  be  to  produce  in  this  country  a 
steel  of  as  good  quality  as  that  made  by  them  in  England. 
This  circumstance  shows  that  Sheffield  has  been  driven 
from  one  of  its  best  markets  by  the  steel-makers  of  our 
own  country,  and  that  our  steel  industry  has  expanded 
under  the  protection  afforded  by  our  legislation  and  by 
the  introduction  of  skilled  labor  from  abroad  ;  and  it  was 
gratifying  to  observe  that  our  exhibits  of  steel  at  the 
Centennial  challenged  comparison  with  any  other  steel 
exhibit  from  any  part  of  the  world. 

There  is  perhaps  no  useful  or  decorative  art  which, 
from  its  recent  commencement,  has  undergone  such  rapid 
improvement  as  that  of  American  porcelain.  Not  only 
what  we  make,  but  what  we  import,  is  decorated  here, 
with  great  elegance  and  beauty  of  form,  so  that  buyers 
can  not,  unless  skilled  in  the  trade,  distinguish  them  from 
the  European  commodity.  The  splendor  of  our  commer- 
cial industry  is  enriched  by  the  increase  and  variety  of 
our  productions  in  this  beautiful  art.  "We  know  how 
successfully  the  French,  Germans,  and  British  have  prac- 
ticed the  manufacture  of  pottery,  and  the  unprecedented 
beauty  of  their  porcelain  still  gives  them  a  very  great 
advantage  in  the  American  market. 

Two  names  stand  pre-eminent  in  the  historical  devel- 
opment of  the  potter's  art — Bernard  Palissy,  of  France, 
and  Josiah  Wedgwood,  of  England.  In  speaking  of  the 
latter,  in  an  address  before  a  literary  society  in  1878,  Mr. 
Gladstone  made  the  following  remarks : 


148    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  M.VNUAL  INDUSTRY. 

I  cannot  pass  by  the  name  of  Wedgwood  withoiit 
a  word.  Perhaps  I  am  a  little  given  to  what  is  called 
hero-worship,  and  Wedgwood  is  one  of  the  heroes  whom 
I  worship.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  I  consider  Wedg- 
wood, taken  altogether,  to  be  the  most  extraordinary  man 
whose  name  is  recorded  in  the  history  of  the  commercial 
world.  Putting  together  the  whole  of  his  qualities  and 
the  whole  of  his  performance,  Wedgwood  completely 
revolutionized  the  character  of  the  fabrics  made  in  Eng- 
land in  his  period.  He  recalled  into  existence  the  spirit 
of  Greek  art.  Whatever  we  may  say  of  earthenware  and 
porcelain  manufactnre  prior  to  Wedgwood's  period,  it 
had  never  risen  to  the  loftiness  of  the  spirit  of  Greek  art. 
If  you  compare  the  famous  porcelain  of  Sevres — the  vases 
of  Sevres — with  the  vases  of  Wedgwood,  or  the  forms  of 
Chelsea  and  Bow  work  with  the  forms  of  Wedgwood,  I 
do  not  hesitate  to  say  that,  in  my  opinion,  they  are  greatly 
inferior.  If  you  run  your  eye  along  this  line  of  produc- 
tion of  the  eighteenth  century  in  England  [indicating] — 
although  I  am  not  by  any  means  denying  there  are  very 
good  forms  in  others — those  of  Wedgwood  stand  pre- 
eminent. Although  Wedgwood  revived  Greek  art,  al- 
though he  seems  to  have  shown  he  was  not  satisfied  with 
the  forms  of  Sevres,  yet  he  did  not  revive  classical  forms 
in  a  servile  spirit.  Though  in  all  his  productions  you  are 
reminded  of  Greek  art,  they  are  not  mere  reproductions. 
His  style  is  strikingly  original ;  and  although,  as  the  lec- 
turer has  said,  he  was  most  powerfully  aided  by  such  men 
as  Bentley,  yet  I  may  say  what  people  have  justly  said 
of  Queen  Elizabeth  and  her  ministers,  Burleigh  and 
Walsingham,  "  How  came  she  to  have  these  great  minis- 
ters?" It  was  because  of  her  judgment  and  discrimi- 
nation, which  enabled  her  to  bring  them  around  her.  Not 
only  did  Wedgwood  completely  revolutionize  the  char- 
acter of  the  fabrics,  but  he  carried  the  manufacture  of 
earthenware,  which  is  not  porcelain,  to  by  far  the  high- 
est point  which  it  has  ever  attained  in  any  country  in 
the  world.     Before  the  time  of  Wedgwood,  England  was 


GLADSTONE'S  ENCOMIUM  ON  WEDGWOOD.  149 

not  particularly  distinguished  in  respect  of  the  potter's 
art,  and  down  to  the  eighteenth  century,  on  the  whole, 
we  were  importers  and  not  exporters  of  pottery  ;  we  learned 
from  the  world  rather  than  supplied  the  world  ;  but  from 
the  hour  Wedgwood  came  upon  the  scene  all  this  was 
altered,  and  we  became  great  exporters  of  pottery,  and, 
from  St.  Petersburg  on  the  one  hand  to  the  Mississippi 
on  the  other,  the  name  and  the  productions  of  Wedgwood 
became  familiar  and  were  everywhere  met  with.  The 
crowning  triumph  that  he  achieved  was  this — that  Con- 
tinental factories  set  about  the  attempted  imitation  of  his 
works,  and  the  Eoyal  Factory  of  Sevres,  richly  and  largely 
endowed  by  state  funds,  not  only  condescended  to  en- 
deavor to  rival  Wedgwood  and  his  works,  but  directly 
imitated  them.  At  the  same  time,  it  must  be  admitted 
that,  great  as  was  the  power  applied  in  their  department 
of  this  art  at  Sevres,  Sevres  wedgwood  is  not  equal  to 
the  genuine  work  of  Josiali  Wedgwood.  Those  who 
love  the  art  of  the  potter  and  his  works  should  ever  bear 
in  veneration  the  name  of  Wedgwood. 

Tlemember  that  this  magnificent  encomium  is  pro- 
nounced by  a  countryman  of  Watt  and  Stephenson,  who 
does  not  fear  placing  Wedgwood,  the  potter,  alongside 
of  these  signal  benefactors  of  the  race.  It  may  be  said 
that  he  originated  this  industry  in  England,  and  that  he 
carried  it  to  a  degree  of  excellence  that  has  never  been 
surpassed.  His  fabrics  are  to  this  day  among  the  most 
precious  and  beautiful  specimens  of  the  art.  His  skill, 
industry,  genius,  and  success  have  been  emulated  by  otliers 
in  the  same  track,  who  have  furnished  the  cheapest  earth- 
enware combined  with  the  most  beautiful  forms  of  an- 
cient or  modern  art,  and  which  for  the  last  sixty  years 
has  constituted  an  important  branch  of  British  domestic 
and  foreign  commerce. 


150    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

"Wedgwood  began  his  improvement  bj  inventing  the 
materials  of  the  ware.  Rejecting  the  clays  then  in  use, 
he  selected  the  purest  and  whitest  clays  in  the  coun- 
try, combining  them  with  chalk-flints,  which  he  ground 
to  powder  and  mixed  with  water  until  they  attained 
the  consistency  of  cream.  lie  afterward  evaporated 
the  water  by  boiling  the  compound  in  large  cisterns,  until 
a  composition  was  left  of  the  most  perfect  uniformity 
throughout,  and  of  a  spotless  white  color.  This  paste 
was  used  either  in  the  purely  white  condition,  or  various- 
ly colored  with  blue,  brown,  or  buff;  and  with  this  ma- 
terial he  produced  imitations  of  the  Etruscan  vases,  and 
of  the  various  other  works  of  ancient  art,  such  as  the  world 
had  never  before  seen,  and  such  as  no  artist  has  ever  since 
surpassed.  Some  of  his  productions  were  miracles  of  art. 
]^ot  only  did  he  give  the  world  a  cheaj)  earthenware,  but 
a  recent  writer  awards  him  the  praise  of  making  the  ex- 
quisite products  of  the  sculptor's  art  in  all  ages  familiar 
to  every  householder,  so  that  the  workmen  in  English 
Bhops  and  laborers  in  the  field  could  use  as  buttons  and 
ornaments  gems  of  the  glyptic  art  of  the  best  ancient  art- 
ists. 

As  Wedgwood  conferred  upon  England  one  of  her 
most  extensive  industries,  so  Palissy  bestowed  upon 
France  the  manufacture  of  enameled  pottery.  This  art 
had  been  known  in  China,  no  one  knows  how  long,  and 
her  china-ware  had  been  introduced  to  the  Western  na- 
tions by  the  Dutch,  who  at  that  period  were  the  only 
Europeans  having  commercial  relations  with  the  Celes- 
tial Empire.  It  was  also  one  of  the  many  arts  which  the 
Saracens  had  carried  into  Europe,  and  from  them  un- 
doubtedly came  its  use  in  the  majolica-ware  of  Italy.    At 


PALISSY  AND  CERAMIC  ART.  151 

tlie  period  of  Palissy  its  manufacture  was  unknown  in 
France.  The  story  is  familiar  which  represents  Palissy 
finding  an  enameled  cup,  and  being  inspired  by  its  beau- 
ty to  discover  the  art  which  had  produced  it.  He  entered 
upon  a  series  of  the  most  extraordinary  experiments,  in 
which  sound  theoretical  principles,  heroic  perseverance, 
and  handicraft  skill  were  finally  rewarded  by  the  most 
brilliant  success — a  success  that  has  not  only  contributed 
to  elevate  the  taste  and  workmanship  of  his  countrymen, 
but  which  has  ever  since  afforded  employment  to  many 
thousands  of  workshops,  and  furnished  articles  of  beauty 
to  persons  of  cultured  taste  in  every  other  part  of  the 
civilized  world. 

It  will  probably  be  some  years  before  American  skill 
and  perseverance  can  eclipse  them  all.  In  the  higher 
productions  of  the  ceramic  art  we  are  still  deficient, 
furnishing  not  much  more  than  one  half  of  the  ware  con- 
sumed in  the  United  States.  Our  fine  work  is  said  to  be 
excellent  so  far  as  it  goes,  though  chiefly  performed  by 
foreigners.  We  still  import  nearly  eight  millions  in  the 
glass  and  ceramic  productions  of  Europe,  Our  finest  china 
comes  from  Staffordsire,  and  our  most  artistic  enamels  from 
Limoges  and  Dresden.  Except  by  way  of  imitation  we  have 
produced  little  or  nothing  entitled  to  notice.  There  is 
no  reason  why  we  should  not  create  a  pottery  entirely  our 
own,  full  of  originality,  and  with  a  general  appearance 
of  a  distinct  American  type.  We  are  the  only  one  among 
the  civilized  nations  that  can  show  no  type  of  our  own  in 
this  the  most  ancient  and  the  most  indispensable  of  all 
the  arts.  Our  manufactories  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
obtaining  their  styles  and  designs  from  abroad,  as  if  they 
were  floating  fragments  just  come  to  hand ;  and  it  must 


152    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

be  confessed  that  these  are  mixed  up  sometimes  with  a 
great  deal  of  critical  selection,  and  re-emploved  in  a  man- 
ner which  deserves  the  praise  of  being  a  striking  resem- 
blance to  the  on'o-inal.  In  this  wav  we  make  AVedgr- 
wood-ware,  Italian  majolica,  Dresden  and  Limoges  por- 
celain. But  in  this  no  particular  taste  is  exemplified,  ex- 
cept the  fidelity  of  a  copyist  rather  than  the  genius  of  de- 
sign— the  ingenuity  of  transcribing,  and  not  the  faculty 
which  creates.  AVe  must  cease  to  imitate,  and  become  in- 
ventors ;  or,  if  we  imitate,  it  ought  not  to  be  the  designs, 
but  the  designing,  which  is  original.  AVe  must  strike  out 
for  ourselves,  and  make  still  greater  progress  in  the  em- 
pire of  industrial  science,  and  learn  to  apply  the  laws 
which  subordinate  the  employment  of  ornament  to  the 
objects  and  general  requirements  of  design.  It  is  by  this 
simple  means  that  others  have  reached  the  highest  excel- 
lence, and  we  can  overtop  them  all  by  the  greater  develop- 
ment of  inventive  faculties.  Perhaps  an  exception  should 
be  made  in  regard  to  our  exhibit  at  the  Centennial.  The 
"  Centennial  Yase,"  made  at  the  Union  Porcelain  Works, 
Greenpoint,  Long  Island,  is  described  as  being  exceed- 
ingly rich  in  color  and  peculiar  in  ornament.  It  is  decid- 
edly American,  the  illustrations  representing  incidents  in 
American  history.  The  paintings  are  finely  executed,  and 
the  whole  effect  is  harmonious  and  attractive.  Other  speci- 
mens were  exhibited,  possessing  great  artistic  merit.  The 
prevailing  ornamentation  was  of  a  patriotic  nature.  This 
style  of  decorating  goods  is  to  be  encouraged,  for  it  nour- 
ishes American  genius,  and  invites  our  manufacturers  to 
make  their  own  designs,  and  leave  off  copying  foreign 
ones.  "  Let  them  be  original,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
their   efforts   will   be   crowned   with   success,  and   their 


AMERICAX  POTTERY.  153 

names  become  known  everywhere."  We  freely  give  the 
highest  prices  paid  in  this  generation  for  beautiful  pot- 
tery, and  no  people  are  so  willing  to  pay  for  artistic  dec- 
oration. AVe  have  the  clays,  the  silicas,  and  other  in- 
gredients best  fitted  for  the  work.  Our  invention  is  pro- 
verbial, and  has  been  displayed  in  all  the  virtues  of  pure- 
ly useful  art  in  every  exposition  where  we  have  exhibited. 
Why,  then,  should  we  remain  at  the  lowest  stage,  where 
finish  and  design  are  concerned  ? 

The  principal  centers  of  this  manufacture  in  the  Unit- 
ed States  are  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  Chicago,  and  Green- 
point,  but  perhaps  the  finest  pottery  is  made  at  Trenton. 
Here,  I  believe,  machinery  was  first  extensively  applied 
in  the  history  of  the  art,  or  at  least  more  extensively 
than  elsewhere.  The  famous  potter's  wheel  is  now  a 
piece  of  mechanism,  and  the  clay  is  mixed  into  a  close, 
fine,  even-grained  consistency  by  processes  purely  mechan- 
ical.    The  heavy  work  is  done  by  machinery. 

The  workmen,  no  doubt,  do  their  work  exceedingly 
well,  and  many  of  them  have  become  experts  in  all  that 
appertains  to  the  difficult  and  complex  character  of  their 
trade. 

In  the  spring  of  1879  a  strike  occurred  among  the 
potters  at  Trenton,  and  a  correspondent,  in  describing  the 
effect  upon  the  business,  mentions  that  new  hands  were 
pretty  generally  employed.  His  observations  are  so  ap- 
propriate to  our  subject  that  I  venture  to  transcribe  a  por- 
tion of  them.     He  writes  that — 

Many  of   those  who  are  now  in  Mr.  Davis'  employ 

have   received  instructions  in   the   highest  branches   of 

scholarship,  some  having  even  passed  through  a  collegiate 

course,  and,  as  educated  men  have  more  reason  and  quick- 

8 


15i    EDUCATION  LM  ITS  RELATION  TO   MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

er  conception  of  the  way  to  do  tilings  properly,  these 
Americans  will  make  the  best  workmen.  A  word  here 
might  not  be  amiss.  Why  do  not  more  American  young 
men  turn  their  attention  to  this  new  branch  of  industry  ? 
There  is  as  good  a  field  open  for  them  in  it  as  there  ever 
was  in  "  going  West."  Their  education  fits  them  to  learn 
it  thoroughly,  and  when  they  have  done  this,  by  the 
exercise  of  a  little  economy  while  being  taught  the  busi- 
ness, and  saving  up  a  small  capital,  they  can  start  out  as 
manufacturers  themselves.  The  best  English  potters  of 
to-day  have  raised  themselves  from  the  bench  to  their 
present  positions.  What  has  been  done  can  be  done 
again.  Now,  most  of  the  men  employed  in  this  line  are 
foreigners ;  why  should  not  Americans  take  advantage  of 
this  opportunity  of  learning  a  good  business,  and  being 
paid  better  wages  for  learning  than  they  can  earn  by 
labor  in  any  ordinary  vocation  ? 

Mr.  Davis  is  a  native  of  England ;  he  came  to  the 
United  States  some  years  ago,  and  commenced  the  busi- 
ness of  which  he  is  now  the  sole  and  responsible  master. 

Without  a  theoretical  knowledge  of  their  trade  our 
workmen  are  but  imitators.  Every  potter  should  be  a 
draughtsman,  so  that  he  could  not  only  do  the  work 
with  his  own  hands,  but  design  it  in  his  imagination. 
Drawing  is  but  the  representation  of  the  object,  or  the 
embodiment  in  concrete  form  of  that  which  is  first  cre- 
ated in  the  mind,  and,  if  understood,  the  soul  of  the  art- 
ist enters  into  his  work.  The  time  will  come  when  no 
one  will  be  reputed  a  good  workman  who  cannot  design 
as  well  as  execute.  Whoever  is  trained  in  a  knowledge 
of  the  principles  of  his  handicraft  may  become  not  mere- 
ly a  workman,  but  a  high  artist.  The  man  who  can  draw 
and  model  will  show  the  value  of  his  acquired  knowledge 
by  giving  elegance  of  form,  grace  of  outKne,  and  beauty 


VALUE  OF  DRAWING  IN   PATTERN-FIGURES.  155 

of  ornament  to  whatever  he  produces  ;  and  every  effort 
will  inspire  him  with  motives  to  higher  and  better  work. 
As  he  addresses  the  public  eye  with  picturesque  illustra- 
tions of  his  own  taste,  new  sources  of  infinite  enjoyment 
will  be  open  to  him  ;  and  his  serviceable  attainment  will 
glide  into  beautiful  visions  of  his  own  feelings  and  enthu- 
siasm upon  the  various  substances  which  the  repertories 
of  nature  have  spontaneously  submitted  to  human  indus- 
try. 

The  value  of  drawing  as  a  study  is  also  realized  as  a 
charming  accomplishment,  when  the  pupil  can  give  a  fine 
delineation  of  a  tree,  a  flower,  a  statue,  or  a  building, 
which  may  have  excited  his  fancy ;  while  the  care  he 
bestows  upon  a  graceful  design  teaches  his  mind  how  to 
think,  enlarges  the  scope  of  his  imagination,  and  breathes 
the  sentiment  of  his  peculiar  idea  into  the  subject  he  has 
chosen  for  his  pencil. 

Without  attempting  to  give  all  the  illustrations  of 
this  character,  let  us  select  one  more  example  which  is 
furnished  by  the  process  of  applying  colored  patterns  to 
cotton  and  woolen  fabrics.  It  was  not  until  about  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  that  calico-printing 
was  practiced  in  modern  Europe.  The  designs  were  first 
carved  on  wooden  blocks  in  relief,  and  then  laboriously 
printed  by  hand.  These  were  superseded  by  copper,  up- 
on which  the  most  delicate  lines  of  the  designer  could  be 
traced,  and  impressed  like  an  engraving  upon  the  cloth. 
Then  came  roller-printing,  by  which  each  color  was  printed 
on  the  cloth  as  it  lay  stretched  on  a  board,  and  the  colors 
were  laid  on  one  after  the  other  by  the  labor  of  men  and 
women,  very  much,  it  may  be  supposed,  as  the  colored 
lithographs  or  chromes  of  the  present  day.     These  im- 


156    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

provements  in  the  machinery,  by  which  so  much  labor  has 
been  saved,  have  been  accompanied  bj  discoveries  in  the 
production  of  brilliant  colors,  by  inventions  that  engrave 
automatically  the  most  intricate  designs,  and  by  constant 
appeals  to  the  draughtsman  for  the  most  beautiful  combi- 
nations in  pattern-figures  to  print  upon  textile  fabrics. 

The  science  of  chemistry  has  achieved  one  of  its  great- 
est triumphs  in  this  art,  nor  has  this  been  the  result  of 
chance,  but  has  come  from  experimental  essays  and  an  in- 
ductive application  of  recognized  principles  of  greater  or 
less  generality.  And  w^hile  perhaps  in  no  domestic  art 
has  machinery  so  much  abridged  the  process  of  produc- 
tion, and  secured  so  great  a  degree  of  economy  in  labor 
and  expenditure,  it  is  equally  to  be  admitted  that  the 
dyer  or  calico-printer  ought  not  only  to  understand  the 
infusion  of  dye-stuffs  and  the  chemical  reaction  of  colors, 
but  also  the  harmony  of  beautiful  colors  and  how  to  dis- 
play and  contrast  them.  He  ought  also  to  have  taste  in 
patterns,  and  judgment  in  applying  them  in  the  most 
effective  manner  to  the  textile  fabrics  he  is  to  beautify. 
This  he  can  discover  by  the  accurate  rules  of  drawing 
and  the  general  principles  of  design.  A  vague  impression 
of  beauty,  which  is  not  decided  by  any  fixed  principle,  is 
generally  without  any  aim,  and  seldom  grasps  the  proba- 
bilities of  a  design.  A  class  of  men  have  now  come  who 
are  not  only  practically  educated  in  this  industry,  but  to 
whom  the  lessons  of  designing  have  yielded  the  grand 
secrets  for  which  modern  industry  must  ever  be  grateful. 

Take  notice  also  how  anxious  we  are  to  suiTound  our 
every-day  life  with  what  is  pleasant  and  agreeable  ;  hence 
the  cabinet-maker  is  equally  indebted  to  the  aid  of  prac- 
tical designs  in  drawing,  in  order  to  furnish  our  homes, 


DRAWING  AS  A  PRACTICAL  ART.  157 

and  make  tliem  comfortable  and  attractive.  By  this 
means  he  carves  his  wood,  and  veneers  his  mahogany,  and 
puts  together  the  most  elaborate  as  well  as  the  simplest 
pieces  of  furniture,  and  decorates  them  with  beautiful 
fringes,  tassels,  and  fixtures,  until  they  exhibit  every  vari- 
ety of  form  and  color.  The  jeweler,  the  engraver,  the  en- 
gineer, the  naturalist,  and  the  mathematician,  can  not  hope 
to  meet  with  much  success  when  ignorant  of  the  rudi- 
ments of  this  art.  Beauty  of  form  will  give  a  practical 
value  to  the  product  of  every  trade.  An  ugly  pattern  is 
salable  in  no  market.  If  any  one  desires  to  know  how 
beauty  and  form  and  color  of  surface  are  preferred  to  the 
same  class  of  articles  not  so  embellished,  he  can  inform 
himself  in  the  store  of  any  merchant  who  consults  the 
tastes  of  his  customers,  and  keeps  a  sharp  lookout  for  the 
prevailing  demands  of  trade. 

In  a  word,  drawing  is  the  most  practical  of  all  arts. 
It  stamps  its  beautiful  lines  on  every  article.  Its  teach- 
ing should  not  be  a  specialty  any  more  than  writing. 
The  whole  community  should  be  equally  educated  in  its 
principles,  for  it  would  imbue  the  whole  people  with  ele- 
vating and  refining  influences  in  the  highest  sense  of  our 
nature. 

Most  of  mankind  go  through  life  seeing  comparative- 
ly little  of  what  is  so  beautiful  in  the  world;  and  we 
lose  much  cf  the  enjoyment  and  pleasure  that  ought  to 
charm  our  vision.  To  the  cultivated  eye  all  nature  is 
ornamental,  and  beauty  is  seen  everywhere.  Even  the 
atoms,  that  are  invisible  from  their  minuteness,  are  charm- 
ingly decorated  when  revealed  under  the  lens  of  a  micro- 
scope, and  are  capable  of  conveying  intelligence  from  eye 
to  eye  and  from  mind  to  mind,  when  trained  to  a  knowl- 


158    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

edge  of  the  lines  and  curves  that  give  beauty  to  natural 
objects,  and  the  circles  and  ellipses  which  adorn  all  vital 
forms.  And  yet  most  men  go  along,  as  if  they  were  blind, 
and  without  the  least  idea  how  admirably  adapted  are  all 
these  forms  to  the  purposes  and  utilities  of  life.  Where 
the  principles  of  design  are  fully  comprehended,  it  will  be 
discovered  that  this  universal  element  of  beauty  is  adapt- 
ed to  the  purposes  of  human  culture  and  improvement, 
and  that,  by  its  proper  appreciation,  we  may  embellish  our 
surroundings  to  any  extent  we  may  desire.  A  boy,  who 
scarcely  knows  a  pencil  when  he  sees  it,  can  drive  the 
plowshare  through  the  rich  prairie-soil  which  responds 
in  a  harvest  of  grain.  This  is  good  and  useful  work. 
But  another  boy,  who  can  also  raise  a  crop,  and  who  has 
had  the  advantage  of  an  art  education,  takes  a  worthless 
piece  of  clay  and  some  sand  from  under  his  feet,  and,  mix- 
ing them  together,  gives  to  the  mass  a  beautiful  form,  and, 
placing  it  in  the  furnace,  burns  it  in  colors  that  will  never 
lose  their  freshness  or  luster,  and  thus  by  ingenuity  and 
taste  combined  produces  a  vase  that  brings  gold  from  the 
rich  and  applause  from  all.  Ten  to  one,  the  outline  and 
details  of  the  design  came  from  his  knowledge  in  drawing. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Drawing  (continued) — The  Massachusetts  act  of  1870 — Want  of  teachers — 
Normal  Art  School — Current  methods  of  teaching  drawing — Professor 
Kriisi's  views — Drawing  as  an  intellectual  discipline — It  compels  ob- 
servation— Its  influence  upon  the  understanding  and  the  imagination — 
It  is  an  educational  study. 

Not  more  than  tweU^e  years  ago  (1882)  tliere  was 
probably  not  a  competent  teacher  of  industrial  drawing 
in  any  of  our  public  schools.  To-day  there  are  hundreds, 
and  the  number  is  constantly  increasing ;  and  it  is  espe- 
cially interesting  that  the  regular  teachers  are  now  so 
well  trained  in  the  art  that  they  are  giving  the  best  in- 
struction. The  public  schools  of  Massachusetts  have 
been  foremost  in  this  educational  movement.  In  1870, 
by  an  act  of  her  Legislature,  drawing  was  made  a  re- 
quired study  in  all  her  schools. 

The  second  section  of  the  act  is  worthy  of  constant 
reference.  It  is  as  follows:  "Any  city  or  town  may, 
and  every  city  and  town  having  more  than  ten  thousand 
inhabitants  shall  annually  make  provision  for  giving  free 
instruction  in  industrial  and  mechanical  drawing  to  per- 
sons over  fifteen  years  of  age,  either  in  day  or  evening 
schools,  under  the  direction  of  the  school  committee." 
The  statute  was  a  conception  of  paramount  importance, 
but  how  could  it  be  carried  into  practical  operation  in 


160  EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

the  absence  of  teacliers  trained  in  tlie  art,  and  witliout 
plan  or  system  in  its  execution?  At  this  day  we  can 
scarcely  a2)iJreciate  the  perplexities  of  the  task.  There 
were  no  precedents.  The  legislative  act  was  regarded  in 
many  quarters  as  empirical  quackery.  A  study  which 
was  looked  upon  as  purely  technical  had  to  be  made  popu- 
lar ;  and  what  had  never  been  done  before  was  to  be  ac- 
complished where  competent  teachers,  text-books,  courses 
of  study,  and  even  the  implements  for  instrumental  in- 
struction, had  all  to  be  created.  The  want  of  competent 
teachers  was  a  serious  drawback  to  success.  It  was  like 
a  ship  on  board  of  which  all  were  utterly  ignorant  of 
the  rules  of  navigation.  In  the  annual  report  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Board  of  Education  for  the  year  1878  it  is 
stated  that — 

It  had  been  found  to  be  impractical  to  maintain  the 
evening  industrial  drawing  classes  for  mechanics,  or  to 
introduce  drawing  into  the  public  day-schools,  and  thus 
give  effect  to  the  act  of  1870,  without  the  assistance  of 
persons  properly  trained  and  qualified  to  give  instruction 
in  the  subject.  From  this  cause  the  evening  classes  lan- 
guished, and  little  progress  was  made  in  the  public  schools. 
It  was  therefore  suggested  to  the  Board  of  Education 
that  teachers  of  industrial  drawing  must  be  provided,  or 
the  act  of  1870  would  remain  inoperative. 

This  gave  rise  to  the  State  I^ormal  Art  School,  which 
tlie  Legislature  established  in  1873,  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  preparing  teachers  of  drawing  for  all  the  other  schools 
of  the  State.  The  same  difficulty  had  been  experienced 
abroad  and  overcome  in  the  same  way.  The  Normal  Art 
School  was  placed  under  the  direction  of  Professor  Smith, 
and  has  been  attended  with  results  that  elicited  the  favor- 


DRAWING  IN  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  161 

able  opinion  of  the  foreign  commissioners  who  visited  our 
Centennial  Exj)Osition,  especially  those  from  France  al- 
ready mentioned.  Sjjecial  teachers  in  drawing  even  in 
the  high-schools  are  no  longer  employed,  and  the  regular 
teachers  now  do  the  work,  and  the  pupils  are  learning 
more  and  better  than  under  the  rule  of  specialists.  In 
the  report  on  drawing  for  1880  the  number  of  teachers 
in  the  public  schools  of  Boston  is  set  down  at  1,045,  and 
of  these  1,040  have  attended  the  classes  in  the  Kormal 
Art  School ;  or,  in  other  words,  all  but  five  of  the  whole 
number  have  been  prepared  by  normal  instruction  to 
teach  industrial  drawing  in  the  public  schools  of  the  city, 
including  free-hand  drawing,  drawing  in  design,  from 
dictation,  memory,  model,  and  geometrical.  I  do  not 
refer  to  the  statistics  of  the  free  evening  drawing  classes 
for  want  of  the  reports  on  that  subject.  These  are  more 
particularly  designed  for  the  instruction  of  mechanics  and 
workmen  ;  and  when  we  consider  that  drawing  is  at  the 
basis  of  every  constructive  art,  the  knowledge  to  be  de- 
rived from  its  principles  must  be  invaluable  in  the  prac- 
tice of  their  trade.  The  study  is  conquering  its  way  into 
favor.  Art-education  stands  high  in  public  favor.  Ex- 
cept in  special  localities  a  great  change  has  taken  place, 
and  it  is  considered  as  indispensable  to  the  material  suc- 
cess of  individuals  and  communities.  Its  refining  influ- 
ence is  permeating  society  and  elevating  labor. 

Methods  of  instruction  were  adopted  in  'New  York 
and  other  important  cities  with  equally  satisfactory  re- 
sults. But  not  only  were  teachers  in  a  less  advanced 
state ;  the  books  on  drawing  were  so  abstract  and  tech- 
nical that  they  could  not  be  introduced  into  the  public 
schools  with   any  hope  of  teaching  children.      "With  a 


162  EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

view  to  the  practical  development  of  the  art  in  common- 
school  education,  a  progressive  plan  of  elementary  studies 
is  indispensable — one  which  presents  the  primary  prin- 
ciples of  drawing  to  the  comprehension  of  the  young- 
est pupils.  The  children  are  to  be  initiated  into  the  lan- 
guage of  form,  which  is  not  picked  up  as  they  do  their 
motlier  tongue.  They  must  be  trained  to  understand  in 
what  exact  form  consists,  and  by  what  means  it  is  pro- 
duced. The  plan  generally  adopted  in  our  public  schools 
is  to  lead  the  students  forward  by  easy  steps,  teaching 
them  first  to  draw  straight  and  curved  lines  on  their 
slates,  or  from  cards  prepared  for  their  use  ;  then  to  com- 
bine these  lines  into  various  geometrical  figures,  with 
explanations  of  the  relation  in  which  they  stand  to  each 
other  as  parts  of  triangles,  squares,  spheres,  oblongs,  etc. 
In  some  of  the  most  successful  systems  of  teaching,  the 
pupils  are  also  furnished  with  blocks  of  various  shapes, 
which  they  arrange  into  a  great  variety  of  solid  figures. 
This  not  only  excites  their  interest,  but,  while  arranging 
the  parts  into  unities,  the  faculties  of  representation  and 
invention  are  exercised  in  a  very  marked  and  practical 
manner.  The  characteristic  features  of  each  form  are 
discriminated — such  as  that  a  square  has  four  angles, 
that  the  sides  are  equal,  and  the  opposite  ones  are  parallel ; 
that  a  triangle  is  bounded  by  three  lines,  that  it  has  three 
angles,  and  that  a  right-angled  triangle  has  one  right 
angle ;  the  opposite  side  is  the  hypothenUse,  the  other 
sides  are  called  respectively  the  base  and  perpendicular. 
And  in  like  manner  they  learn  the  peculiarities  of  the 
numerous  figures  presented  in  the  early  lessons,  and  the 
technical  terms  by  which  they  are  designated.  They  also 
acquire  skill  in  distinguishing  the  parts  from  the  whole, 


DRAWING  IN  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  163 

and  a  knowledge  of  the  arrangement  hy  which  they  con- 
stitute a  unit.  They  practice  upon  the  details  of  an  illus- 
tration until  they  can  reproduce  it  upon  the  blackboard  ; 
and  they  possess  this  accomplishment  by  experience  and 
deduction,  for  they  first  become  familiar  with  the  constitu- 
ent elements  and  can  then  make  a  representation  of  the 
form.  It  results  from  this  process  that  the  pupil  who  has 
looked  upon  a  figure  and  become  acquainted  with  its  vari- 
ous elements  can  reproduce  its  likeness  with  clearness  and 
precision  from  memory  alone.  At  this  point  of  study 
the  creative  powers  of  the  imagination  are  awakened, 
and  the  student  begins  to  put  lines  into  forms  of  natural 
objects,  or  of  the  ideals  that  spring  up  in  his  own  mind, 
and  he  invents  little  designs  which  perhaps  delight  no- 
body so  much  as  himself. 

In  order  to  increase  the  interest  in  the  study,  the 
pupils  are  encouraged  to  draw  in  outhne  any  object  that 
may  attract  their  attention,  so  that  simple  forms  of  any 
kind  composed  of  straight  and  curved  lines,  and  exhibit- 
ing the  feature  of  geometrical  development,  are  to  be 
used  successfully  to  impress  the  mind  with  the  lessons. 

This  is,  of  course,  an  extremely  meager  sketch  of 
what  I  understand  to  be  the  general  plan  of  primary  in- 
struction. In  the  courses  and  grades  which  follow,  atten- 
tion is  given  to  the  facts  which  constitute  technical  draw- 
ing, the  representation  of  form  as  seen  by  the  eye,  the 
conventionalization  from  leaf  and  flower,  and  the  applica- 
tion of  drawing  in  design,  machine  and  architectural  con- 
struction ;  while  the  historical  styles  of  ornament  com- 
mand special  attention  from  the  teacher  as  well  as  the 
pupil.  This  includes  the  formation  of  the  various  geo- 
metrical figures,  the  principles  of  curvilinear  drawing, 


164  EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

isometrical  drawing,  the  study  of  perspective,  and  of 
shade  and  shadow,  and  so  much  of  mechanical  drawing 
as  will  impart  at  least  the  rudiments  of  that  important  art 
to  those  who  will  have  practical  use  for  its  application. 
These  lessons  are  graded,  and  advance  from  the  simplest 
rudiments  to  the  most  complicated  forms  of  construction. 
The  student  is  furnished  with  the  fullest  illustrations 
and  models  all  through  the  course.  Free-hand  and  in- 
strumental drawing  are  employed  respectively  where 
they  are  best  adapted  to  the  stage  of  the  work. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  present  system  begins  by 
teaching  how  to  draw  straight  lines,  and  advances  gradu- 
ally until  the  principles  and  practice  of  drawing  are  quite 
well  understood.  Each  lesson  is  a  new  starting-point  for 
something  still  more  advanced,  and  each  grade  when 
mastered  is  an  intellectual  conquest  which  forms  a  basis 
for  achieving  those  above.  The  traditional  system  of 
"  picture-painting,'-  and  drawing  "  the  figure  from  cop- 
ies," is  abandoned,  and  in  its  place  the  aim  is  imitation 
and  a  logical  appreciation  of  right  lines  and  curves ;  and, 
later,  the  representation  of  objects  and  the  elements  of 
perspective;  and  instead  of  drawing  the  human  figure, 
the  students  are  required  to  practice  themselves  in  geo- 
metrical and  in  shaded  perspective,  in  drawing  geomet- 
rical solids,  ornament  in  relief,  and  conventional  exam- 
ples from  the  forms  of  leaves  and  decorative  flowers. 
This  reform  is  confirmed  by  the  valued  example  of  all 
our  large  cities,  in  which  the  subject  has,  in  the  course  of 
late  years,  received  the  closest  attention. 

The  only  serious  danger  lies  in  the  tendency  to  give  an 
undue  portion  of  time  to  the  study  of  ornament  or  decora- 
tive design,  and  tlie  consequent  desire  of  the  pupils  to 


INDUSTRIAL  DRAWING.  165 

become  artists  instead  of  artisans,  and  to  make  pretty  pict- 
ures instead  of  drawings.  By  the  present  system  young 
men  are  not  instructed  in  any  manual  work  or  in  the  use- 
fulness of  labor.  Four  hundred  appointments  of  clerks 
were  announced  in  the  Interior  Department  at  Washing- 
ton, and  there  were  five  thousand  applications  for  the 
places.  Let  any  business  man  advertise  for  a  clerk,  and 
he  will  be  overwhelmed  in  a  few  hours  with  all  sorts  of 
answers.  The  public  has  strong  grounds  of  complaint  at 
this  result  of  school  instruction.  Designers  do  good  work, 
and  no  class  of  men  have  done  more  to  improve  indus- 
trial products  and  increase  employments;  but  when  we 
consider  that  most  of  the  children  in  our  public  schools 
ought  to  be  destined  for  the  various  industrial  pursuits, 
the  aim  of  teaching  should  be  to  prepare  them  for  an 
"  industrial  career,"  and  to  furnish  them  with  such  rules 
of  drawing  as  can  be  usefully  applied  by  workmen  in 
their  different  trades.  The  means  of  avoiding  this  tend- 
ency are  found  in  the  Massachusetts  act,  which  requires 
the  instruction  to  be  "industrial  and  mechanical  draw- 
ing." Every  exertion  should  be  made  to  apply  the  stat- 
ute for  the  benefit  of  industry  and  the  improvement  of 
manufactures.  Perhaps  it  is  inexperience  which  leads 
the  writer  to  think  that,  after  learning  the  elementaiy 
principles  of  geometrical  drawing  and  ornament,  and  the 
representation  of  objects  according  to  their  appearance, 
lessons  in  mechanical  drawing  could  be  readily  under- 
stood and  frequently  given.  Improvement  in  the  art  of 
design  improves  all  the  manufactures  to  which  it  is  ap- 
plied, and  has  suggested  not  only  new  branches  of  useful 
art,  but  has  revived  many  of  those  that  had  been  forgot- 
ten or  fallen  into  disuse.     It  is  proper,  therefore,  that 


166  EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

ornament  and  design  should  occupy  a  prominent  place 
in  the  system.  Mechanical  drawing  depends  more  upon 
rules  and  instruments,  affords  but  little  scope  for  the 
imagination,  and  is  j)erhaps  less  attractive,  because  it 
does  not  appeal  to  our  sense  of  the  beautiful.  But  we 
must  also  remember  that  the  best  of  workmen  will  con- 
stantly blunder  for  the  want  of  knowing  the  simple  rules 
of  mechanical  drawing.  Those  who  are  gifted  to  become 
artists,  will  have  in  the  technical  schools  of  design  ample 
opportunity  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  high  art-prin- 
ciples to  represent  the  ideals  of  their  imagination.  The 
public  school  has  humbler  work  to  perform.  Subordinate 
to  its  educational  influence,  the  main  stress  should  be  laid 
upon  industrial  drawing,  and  its  economic  aspect  ought 
to  be  recognized. 

The  trades  are  very  few  in  which  a  knowledge  of 
mechanical  drawing  is  not  useful.  The  carj^enter  lays 
off  his  work  by  its  rules,  and  even  the  plasterer  rans  his 
moldings  around  the  arches  and  elliptical  forms  of  his 
designs  according  to  its  principles  ;  and  if  the  machinist, 
in  working  from  his  drawings,  should  mistake  the  meas- 
urements in  the  merest  fraction,  more  or  less,  it  might 
destroy  the  machine  unless  reconstructed ;  and  if  it  were 
started  it  might  be  torn  into  pieces  with  whatever  of  col- 
lateral injuries.  A  machine-shop  can  not  be  found  with- 
out the  instruments  used  in  mechanical  drawing ;  but 
very  few  of  the  young  mechanics  know  how  to  apply 
them,  unless  they  have  received  rudimentary  instruction 
in  their  school-days;  and  except  the  machinist,  the  brick- 
layer, the  mason,  the  engineer,  and  the  builder,  are  some- 
what skilled  in  its  practical  rules,  they  run  the  risk  of 
waste  of  time  and  material,  and  of  always  remaining  at 


MECHANICAL   DRAWING.  167 

the  bottom  of  their  profession.  How  else  can  they  de- 
termine the  correctness  of  a  drawing,  or  work  out  its 
minutiffi  ?  In  all  the  mechanic  arts  it  is  clear  that  the 
work  must  be  planned  upon  paper  in  outline  and  eleva- 
tion, and  the  workmen  must  be  able  to  read  it  correctly 
in  order  to  construct  and  shape  the  object  so  that  it  will 
literally  materialize  the  image  of  the  di-aughtsman  in  all 
its  details.  Robert  Stephenson  could  find  but  little  in  the 
drawing  formula  of  his  day  that  precisely  enabled  him 
to  construct  his  locomotive,  but  he  arrived  at  his  meas- 
ures and  systems  by  arduous  and  original  experiments. 
In  this  he  was  aided  by  other  engineers,  who  were  per- 
haps more  skilled  in  the  principles  of  mechanical  drawing, 
which  is  an  almost  indispensable  aid  to  the  inventive 
powers.  The  iron  horse  is  harnessed  to  steam,  and  man- 
ufactured by  those  w^ho  think  but  little  of  the  wonderful 
tentative  processes  which  first  give  it  form  and  energy. 

I  suppose  tliat  mechanical  perspective,  and  the  vari- 
ous forms  of  projection,  constitute  the  leading  features  of 
mechanical  and  architectural  drawing.  Their  teaching 
has  been  introduced  into  the  public  schools  of  New  York 
and  Boston,  but  I  have  not  seen  any  report  upon  the 
progress  made.  Its  teaching  to  the  children  in  the  more 
advanced  classes,  as  a  regular  branch  of  instruction  in  the 
public  schools,  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  numer- 
ous industries  pursued  in  our  large  cities.  The  subject  is 
also  one  of  universal  interest.  The  ordinary  accidents  to 
which  we  are  exposed  arise  in  too  many  instances  from 
some  error  in  the  work  of  the  draughtsman  or  the  machin- 
ist. The  unexpected  fall  of  buildings,  and  their  bad  con- 
struction in  case  of  fire,  are  sometimes  attended  with  hor- 
rors that  curdle  the  blood  and  sweep  away  precious  lives 


168  EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

witli  the  most  excruciating  deaths.  The  wheel  or  axle  of 
the  locomotive  may  be  unsound  in  material  or  model,  and 
the  train  in  its  rapid  flight  plunged  over  a  viaduct,  bruis- 
ing and  maiming  its  living  freight,  and  sending  our  best 
and  most  beloved  ones  into  the  grave  without  warning  or 
preparation.  Boilers  explode,  machines  are  shattered, 
owing  to  defective  work  of  some  kind,  and  the  newspa- 
pers publish  a  daily  catalogue  of  disasters  more  appalling 
than  the  carnage  of  war.  The  lesser  evils  are  also  con- 
siderable. Think  of  the  annoyance  and  discomfort  of  ill- 
constructed  furniture,  of  imperfect  and  botchy  utensils, 
and  of  wretched  and  degrading  forms  of  household  con- 
veniences which  still  remain  !  Many  methods  have  been 
devised  to  protect  us  against  these  dangers  and  troubles. 
But  among  the  most  effective  of  all  remedies  will  be  the 
brain  and  hand  guided  by  the  skill  in  mechanical  draw- 
ing, that  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  nature  of  the  work 
to  be  performed,  or  the  object  to  be  created. 

To  Professor  Kriisi's  "  Manual  for  Teachers "  we  are 
indebted  for  many  weighty  observations  on  the  practical 
value  of  drawing,  and  from  it  I  borrow  the  following 
passages : 

Besides  its  importance  as  an  educational  pi'ocess, 
drawing  is  of  great  practical  value  in  most  of  the  voca- 
tions in  life.  It  is  indispensable  to  the  highest  success 
in  most  of  tlie  mechanical  pursuits.  The  man  who  can 
illustrate  his  ideas  M'ith  his  pencil  rises  from  the  lower 
to  the  higher  walks  of  his  calling.  He  plans  as  well  as 
executes,  and  lie  falls  naturally  into  his  place  as  leader 
and  director.  The  carpenter  who  draws  well  becomes 
foreman,  and  not  unfrequently  architect.  The  machinist 
who  draws,  in  many  instances,  becomes  a  successful  in- 
ventor. 


PROFESSOR  KRtSrS  VIEW?!.  169 

Ability  to  draw  is  of  great  value  to  the  farmer.  By 
its  means  he  plots  his  ground  and  divides  his  fields.  By 
it  he  plans  his  house,  adapting  it  to  its  surroundings  and 
to  its  uses.  By  it  he  is  able  to  describe  the  peculiar  vege- 
tation, the  name  of  which  is  unknown  to  him,  and  the 
kind  of  insect  which  destroys  his  crop.  By  it  he  fashions 
his  utensils  and  tools,  and  communicates  his  thoughts  to 
others  in  a  thousand  instances  where  ordinary  language 
fails. 

In  the  various  manufactures,  workmen  are  in  con- 
stant demand  who  have  some  aptitude  and  skill  in  de- 
signing. In  engineering  and  in  architecture,  drawing  is 
an  integral  part  of  the  professional  work.  Even  to  those 
engaged  in  the  learned  professions,  drawing  may  be  made 
of  use  in  various  kinds  of  investigation,  and  in  affording 
amusement  for  leisure  hours. 

Indeed,  the  exceeding  importance  of  the  study  re- 
ceives a  new  impulse,  as  it  is  seen  that  the  language  of 
form  is  essential  in  all  the  pursuits  of  a  busy  life.  The 
products  of  industry  and  the  question  of  education  are 
bound  together  for  the  benefit  of  the  rising  generation  ; 
and  the  workmen  are  trained  to  think,  to  combine,  and 
to  open  their  eyes  to  whatever  is  beautiful  in  their  work. 
A  gi'eat  change  has  taken  place ;  and  no  one  can  now 
doubt  the  capacity  of  our  people  for  the  study  of  art, 
either  in  its  application  to  industry,  or  to  what  may  be 
called  its  aesthetics. 

Systems  or  series  of  text-books  in  industrial  draw- 
ing, upon  the  progressive  plan,  have  been  used  in  the 
public  schools  for  several  years ;  and  it  is  gratifying  to 
know  that  this  simple  and  practical  scheme  of  instruction 
has  effectually  contributed  to  establish  this  study  as  a 
branch  of  popular  education.  It  is  now  taught  very  gen- 
erally by  persons  of  professional  knowledge  and  practical 


lYO  EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

experience,  who  are  familiar  with  the  text-books  best 
adapted  to  the  actual  needs  of  the  schools ;  and  it  is  a 
matter  of  sincere  congratulation  that  industrial  drawing 
is  a  recognized  study  in  nearly  all  the  leading  cities  of 
the  Union. 

The  study  of  the  art  of  drawing  is  also  recommended 
as  a  means  of  intellectual  discipline.  We  all  acknowl- 
edge the  powerful  influence  exerted  by  the  use  of  lan- 
guage upon  mental  operations.  Says  a  profound  philoso- 
pher :  *  "  Man,  in  fact,  only  obtains  the  use  of  his  faculties 
in  obtaining  the  use  of  speech  ;  for  language  is  the  indis- 
pensable means  of  the  development  of  his  natural  powers, 
whether  intellectual  or  moral."  I^ow,  di'awing  is  the  uni- 
versal language  of  form.  If  speech  can  be  called  the 
mother,  drawing  is  certainly  the  godmother,  of  knowledge. 
The  sensible  objects  which  surround  us,  and  the  percep- 
tion of  their  form,  dimensions,  and  color,  constitute  our 
knowledge  of  the  external  world.  "We  may  attempt  to 
describe  them  in  words,  but  a  drawing  satisfies  and  in- 
structs the  mind  with  a  precision  and  rapidity  that  be- 
long only  to  the  crayon.  The  power  of  thinking  and 
the  power  of  drawing  are  inseparable.  It  is  impossible 
to  succeed  in  drawing  a  figure,  unless  every  line  is  con- 
sidered in  its  relation  to  the  object  delineated.  The 
whole  structure  depends  upon  a  balance  of  details.  It  is 
a  work  of  reflection  throughout,  and  the  process  can  only 
be  carried  on  by  forethought  at  every  point  of  its  evolu- 
tion. A  child  in  committing  a  lesson  exercises  the  fac- 
ulty of  memory,  but  he  rises  in  the  scale  of  thought  when 
he  arranges  a  few  lines  into  forms  resembling  the  object 
which  he  sees,  and  to  which  words  can  only  give  a  tran- 

*  Sir  William  namilton'a  "  Logic,"  p.  98. 


DRAWING   AS  A    MENTAL    DISCIPLINE.  171 

Blent  expression.  In  drawing,  tlie  mind  itself  works  as 
well  as  the  hand  in  elaborating  these  unmeaning  lines 
into  concrete  images  of  vivid  and  enduring  symmetry. 

Drawing  opens  the  perceptions  of  the  pupil.  He  is 
almost  in  the  obscurity  of  night,  perceiving  little  and  dis- 
criminating less  in  the  objects  which  present  themselves. 
But  now  his  senses  are  exercised  and  trained  to  observa- 
tion, and  it  is  like  light  dawning  upon  the  darkness.  He 
not  only  recognizes  whole  objects,  like  houses,  trees,  and 
animals,  but  he  discriminates  the  component  parts,  he  fixes 
their  position  and  relation  to  each  other.  By  this  means 
he  acquires  immediate  knowledge  in  regard  to  the  science 
of  natural  objects  and  also  of  those  created  by  art.  He 
perceives  points  of  inquiry  worthy  of  attention  in  every- 
thing that  flits  before  the  eye.  The  leaves  upon  the  trees 
and  the  blades  of  grass  in  the  field  are  regarded  with  that 
scrutiny  which  such  an  exact  study  as  drawing  peculiarly 
requires.  It  assists  the  artisan  at  his  work  and  the  scholar 
in  the  highest  range  of  perceptive  philosoiDhy. 

Its  influence  upon  the  understanding  is  not  less  salu- 
tary. It  is  a  study  of  the  real  things  in  the  world  around 
us.  Objects  which  are  dim  and  meaningless  to  others, 
are  full  of  methodical  arrangement  to  the  student  of  draw- 
ing. He  is  quick  to  discern  the  plan  upon  which  they 
are  organized,  and  the  harmonizing  beauty  and  order  in 
all  created  things. 

By  an  act  of  the  imagination  he  invents  designs  that 
would  be  utterly  beyond  his  power,  were  it  not  for  the 
forms  and  rules  which  drawing  furnishes. 

A  leaf  or  a  flower  in  the  art  of  drawing  can  only  be 
produced  by  the  exercise  of  the  faculty  of  conceiving  how 
lines  of  different  kinds  can  be  combined  to  represent  the 


172  EDUCATIOX  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

distinguishing  parts  of  these  objects,  and  to  show  the  re- 
lation they  bear  to  each  other.  The  stem  and  the  veins 
in  the  leaf,  the  petal  and  the  calyx  in  the  flower,  have 
their  peculiar  shape  and  position  in  forming  the  whole. 
The  endowment  of  thought  must  be  exercised  so  as  to 
combine  the  lines  in  tlie  direction  best  suited  to  give  ef- 
fect to  the  different  parts  of  the  figure.  Whatever  the 
object  may  be — a  bronze  or  a  vase — the  pupil  is  required 
to  recognize  distinctions,  and  to  shape  his  outlines  to  give 
them  the  degree  of  prominence  which  will  be  true  and 
harmonious.  This  work  ought  to  be  a  model  of  exacti- 
tude and  grace,  and  minute  details  are  to  be  scrupulously 
studied. 

In  a  word,  the  intelligence  of  the  draughtsman  is  put 
in  action,  and  he  becomes  the  author  of  combinations  in 
forms  and  designs  under  the  impulse  or  by  the  inspiration 
of  his  own  genius.  He  is  distinguished  by  his  singular 
ingenuity,  address,  and  superiority  in  the  arts  of  life  with 
which  or  upon  which  he  is  employed. 

It  is  also  educational  in  the  true  and  strict  a]iplication 
of  that  term.  To  convey  any  special  proportion  of  the 
material  of  knowledge,  is  properly  called  education. 
Drawing  is  essentially  an  operation  of  the  intellect,  in 
which  the  hand,  the  eye,  and  other  parts  of  the  physical 
system  co-operate.  It  molds  these  faculties  to  certain 
elements  of  knowledge  both  intellectually  and  physically. 
Professor  Kriisi,  to  whom  I  have  already  adverted,  holds 
that  drawing  is  of  the  greatest  benefit  "  intellectually  in 
compelling  correct  observation,  and  in  inciting  thought 
which  depends  upon  observation."  It  is  almost  incredi- 
ble that  so  little  was  formerly  done  to  instruct  our  chil- 
dren in  a  species  of  knowledge  upon  which  the  useful 


DRAWING    AS  A    MENTAL    DISCIPLINE.  173 

pursuits  of  life  depend  for  bo  many  benefits,  and  which 
at  the  same  time  contributes  as  much  to  the  material  and 
social  improvement  of  the  race  as  to  the  most  elevated 
sentiments  and  conceptions  of  the  artist.  And  yet  the 
subject  had  no  place  in  ordinary  education,  and  the  prac- 
tical necessities,  to  which  it  is  of  the  highest  importance, 
were  totally  ignored.  It  is  now  very  generally  recognized 
as  a  systematic  study  in  the  course  of  public-school  edu- 
cation. We  have  seen  how  it  draws  forth  the  perceptive 
powers,  quickening  the  understanding  and  the  imagina- 
tion, and  directing  these  transcendent  endowments  of  the 
intellect  in  a  great  variety  of  ways  to  the  needs  and  well- 
being  of  modern  life. 

With  the  general  remark  that  all  true  intellectual  cult- 
ure depends  upon  the  enrichment  of  the  intuitive  facul- 
ties, I  claim  for  the  art  of  drawing  a  permanent  place  in 
the  programmes  of  public  teaching.* 

*  The  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  for  1882-83  first  makes 
its  appearance  while  this  chapter  is  in  press.  It  contains  a  statement  of 
the  conclusions  of  the  Royal  Commissioners  (English)  on  technical  instruc- 
tion in  the  different  countries  of  Europe  and  the  United  States.  As  we 
have  stated  in  a  subsequent  chapter,  they  made  a  preliminary  report  in 
February,  1883,  which  referred  exclusively  to  France,  and  displayed  the 
activity  there  in  all  that  relates  to  the  instruction  of  artisans.  The  final 
report  is  now  made  public.  In  regard  to  the  particular  subject  of  draw- 
ing, they  say : 

For  instruction  in  drawing,  as  applied  mainly  to  decorative  work  in 
France,  and  to  both  constructive  and  decorative  work  in  Belgium,  the  op- 
portunities are  excellent.  The  crowded  schools  of  drawing,  modeling, 
carving,  and  painting,  maintained  at  the  expense  of  the  municipalities  of 
Paris,  Lyons,  Brussels,  and  other  cities — absolutely  gratuitous,  and  open  to 
all  comers,  well  lighted,  furnished  with  the  best  models,  and  under  the  care 
of  teachers  full  of  enthusiasm— stimulate  those  manufactures  and  crafts 
in  which  the  fine  arts  play  a  prominent  part  to  a  degree  which  is  without 
parallel  in  this  country  (England).  Instruction  in  art  applied  to  industry 
and  decoration  is  now  pursued  with  energy  in  South  Germany  and  in  sev- 
eral of  the  northern  Italian  towns,  and  the  influence  of  this  instruction  on 


174  EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

the  employment  of  the  people  is  becoming  very  conspicuous  in  those  coun- 
tries. The  government  schools  of  applied  art  in  France,  under  the  decree 
of  1881,  of  which  the  Limoges  Decorative  Arts  School  is  the  earliest  ex- 
ample, and  which,  like  the  above-mentioned  schools,  are  gratuitous,  should 
be  mentioned  in  this  connection.  .  .  . 

Among  the  recommendations  is  the  following  : 

The  board  recommends,  for  public  elementary  schools,  that  rudiment- 
ary drawing  be  incorporated  with  writing,  as  a  single  elementary  subject, 
and  that  instruction  in  elementary  drawing  be  continued  throughout  the 
standards  (classes) ;  that  drawing  from  casts  and  models  be  required  as 
part  of  the  work,  and  that  modeling  be  encouraged  by  grants ;  that  a 
school  shall  not  be  deemed  to  be  provided  with  sufficient  and  suitable  ap- 
paratus of  elementary  instruction  unless  it  have  a  proper  supply  of  casts 
and  models  for  drawing ;  that  proficiency  in  the  use  of  tools  for  working 
in  wood  and  iron  be  paid  for  as  a  "  specific  subject,"  the  work  to  be  done, 
when  practicable,  out  of  school-hours ;  that  the  collection  of  objects,  casts, 
and  drawings  for  school  museums  be  encouraged  ;  that  children  under  four- 
teen in  England,  as  already  in  Scotland,  be  prohibited  from  working  "  full 
time  "  in  factories  and  workshops ;  and  that,  for  the  rural  schools,  instruc- 
tion in  agriculture  be  made  obligatory  in  the  upper  grades. — Report  of  the 
Commissioner  of  Education^  18S3-83. 


CHAPTEE  X. 

Technical  education  of  artisans — Art-industry — Industrial  school — Appren- 
ticeship— Trades-unions — Restriction  in  the  number  of  apprentices — 
No  restriction  except  want  of  character — Trades  to  provide  technical 
instruction — University  extension  in  England — American  boys — Clerlis 
and  artisans — Manual  skill  and  literary  education — Duty  of  parents — 
Apprentice-schools  in  Belgium — Truth  and  knowledge. 

Highly,  however,  as  I  estimate  the  importance  of 
instruction  in  drawing,  yet  something  more  is  needed  in 
order  to  meet  the  necessities  of  our  various  industries. 
Art  ideas  must  be  supplemented  by  practical  workman- 
ship, for  both  must  render  their  assistance  in  embellishing 
articles  of  utility  which  administer  to  the  physical  wants 
of  man,  as  well  as  to  those  which  look  to  beauty  only  and 
the  artistic  tastes  which  grow  out  of  it.  To  compete 
successfully  with  foreign  work,  we  must  have  a  class  of 
artisans  as  highly  cultivated  in  workmanship  as  those  we 
import  from  over  the  sea ;  and  this  skill  can  only  be  ac- 
quired by  practice  in  their  respective  handicrafts.  It  is 
true  that  with  us  applied  science  and  mechanical  powers 
have  superseded  in  a  great  measure  the  bm*den  of  heavy 
labor ;  but  the  quick  eye,  the  expert  hand,  and  the  acute 
taste  can  never  be  dispensed  with  in  the  manual  processes 
of  the  arts  and  manufactures.  To  meet  this  imperative 
demand  for  first-class  workmen,  without   submitting  to 


176    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

the  exactions  and  competition  of  foreign  artists,  we  must 
educate  the  constructive  ability  of  our  youtli  during  the 
period  of  life  which  is  now  devoted  to  study  alone.  We 
have  developed  in  a  very  high  degree  the  arts  of  manu- 
facture ;  but  we  are  nearly  without  any  American  arti- 
sans in  the  trades  connected  with  design ;  and  are  con- 
sequently deprived  of  the  acknowledged  sharpness  and 
ingenuity  of  our  own  countrymen  in  helping  on  Amer- 
ican industries.  This  wide  and  remunerative  field  of 
employment  is  left  to  be  occupied  by  partly  educated  and 
skilled  foreigners.  We  have  excellent  schools  for  all 
sorts  of  instruction  in  the  essentials  of  mathematics,  his- 
tory, literature,  and  philosophy ;  but  we  fit  nobody  with 
either  skill  or  knowledge  in  any  particular  habit  of  indus- 
try. The  United  States  in  1880  contained  189,000  ele- 
mentary schools,  having  9,720,000  pupils.  The  govern- 
ment expenditure  for  education  in  the  several  States  was 
$81,719,000.  There  were  in  addition  220  normal  schools 
with  26,000  pupils.  These  figures  in  regard  to  expendi- 
ture surpass  those  of  England  and  Wales  nearly  five  times, 
and  those  of  France  nearly  four  times.  In  the  number 
of  pupils  and  the  expenditure  of  means  we  lead  the  world ; 
and  yet  in  our  magnificent  system  of  public  instruction 
we  have  not  class-room  for  a  single  student  in  any  branch 
connected  with  industry. 

There  are  numerous  institutions  in  France  and  Ger- 
many in  which  elementary  education  and  industry  are 
taught  at  the  same  time ;  the  design  being  to  imbue  the 
pupils  with  the  rules  of  art  and  the  rudiments  of  knowl- 
edge while  training  them  in  some  branch  of  industry,  and 
thus  to  utilize  the  former  and  elevate  the  latter  as  much 
as  possible  in  a  practical  way.     We  have  also  dwelt,  in  a 


ART-INDUSTRY.  177 

former  part  of  this  work,  upon  the  advances  made  by 
England  within  the  last  thirty  years,  in  forming  the  con- 
nection between  the  principles  of  art  and  her  industrial 
pursuits. 

Indeed,  art-industry  is  beginning  to  play  an  important 
part  in  the  progress  of  nations,  and  is  already  regarded  in 
all  civilized  countries  as  a  source  of  national  wealth  and 
power.  The  establishment  of  schools  for  the  instruction 
of  those  engaged  in  our  trades  and  manufactures  is,  there- 
fore, often  the  subject  of  examination  in  the  public  jour- 
nals, especially  in  the  trade  magazines,  and  in  essays  de- 
livered at  educational  institutes  and  social-science  con- 
ventions. The  effort,  now  so  general  throughout  the 
United  States,  to  introduce  instruction  in  drawing  as  a 
branch  of  public  education,  can  not  be  misapprehended. 
The  period  appears  to  have  arrived  when  institutions  of 
industrial  science  and  education  can  no  longer  be  post- 
poned, and  when  they  must  be  tried  in  this  country  on  as 
large  a  scale  as  those  witnessed  abroad.  There  seems  no 
reason  why  the  institutional  system  should  not  be  adapted 
to  the  tradesman,  the  artisan,  and  the  manufacturer,  as  well 
as  to  the  more  pedantic  professions  in  which  men  are  so 
thoroughly  trained.  The  reform  of  our  taste  has  com- 
menced by  the  purifying  influence  which  proceeds  from, 
and  which  will  gradually  make  its  way  through,  the  com- 
munity from  the  universal  teaching  of  drawing.  An  ap- 
peal must  now  be  made  in  behalf  of  teaching  the  pro- 
cesses of  production  as  well  as  the  principles  which  shall 
guide  the  work.  The  use  of  tools  and  machinery  does  not 
come  by  intuition,  and  industrial  knowledge  ought  to  in- 
clude instruction  in  their  use. 

The   arts   and  industries  of  life  are  hereafter  to  be 
9 


178    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

largely  carried  on  by  their  instrumentality.  There  is  also 
a  universal  desire  to  bestow,  even  upon  goods  of  the  hum- 
blest kind,  beauty  of  form  and  some  of  the  elegancies  of 
art.  A  great  point  in  trade  is,  therefore,  to  make  useful 
work  beautiful.  Beauty  is  a  salable  commodity ;  and  the 
artisan  who  can  add  it  to  his  work  enhances  its  value  and 
brings  profit  to  his  trade.  A  knowledge  of  how  to  work 
and  a  knowledge  of  how  to  render  that  work  attractive 
are  equally  necessary ;  and  success  can  only  be  attained  by 
a  constant  and  determined  effort  to  combine  them  in  the 
workshop  and  the  manufactory.  The  suggestion  is  be- 
cominor  familiar  that  the  industrial  school  should  be  es- 
tablished  as  a  part  of  the  public-school  system,  for  the 
practical  as  well  as  theoretical  education  of  the  children, 
at  least  in  the  rudiments  of  the  various  industrial  and  me- 
chanical pursuits  for  which  they  possess  a  natural  talent. 
We  can  not  regard  the  present  generation  of  American 
youth  without  giving  this  problem  our  serious  thought. 
The  situation  of  American  boys  is  critical  and  alarming. 
They  are  not  trained,  as  in  former  periods,  in  a  knowl- 
edge of  any  mechanical  art ;  and  the  consequence  is,  that 
skilled  workmen  among  our  native  population  are  seldom 
to  be  met  with.  The  general  education  (although  most 
excellent  in  itself)  imparted  at  the  public  schools  disin- 
clines them  to  seek  employment  in  any  of  the  trades, 
while  the  system  of  apprenticeship,  by  wliich  a  course  of 
instruction  (such  as  it  was)  was  formerly  given  in  some 
particular  trade,  has  almost  ceased  to  exist.  At  that  pe- 
riod the  humble  industries  were  mostly  pursued  at  home 
or  in  an  adjoining  shop.  An  ordinary  street-shop  was 
often  the  whole  establishment,  which  contained  the  stock 
and  tlie  work  of  the  humble  manufactory.     Here  the  ap- 


APPRENTICESHIP  AND   THE   TRADES-UNIONS.  I79 

prentice  was  taught  in  the  dexterity  of  his  craft,  and  often 
became  a  member  of  the  liousehold  of  his  master.  This 
view  is  treated  as  a  picturesque  reminiscence  which  will 
do  very  well  to  talk  about,  but  which  presents  no  point  of 
interest  to  the  craftsman  of  this  day.  The  time  of  small 
industries  has  passed  away,  and  in  their  place  we  have 
immense  establishments  employing  hundreds  of  work- 
men ;  and  instead  of  human  muscle  we  employ  the  assist- 
ance of  applied  science  and  economic  machinery.  With 
these  improved  methods  we  have  rejected  the  old  cus- 
toms, without  adopting  anything  in  their  place  to  supply 
the  ever-increasing  demand  for  mechanical  ability.  Be- 
sides, by  the  rules  of  various  trades-unions,  all  beyond  a 
very  limited  number  of  boys  are  prevented  from  acquir- 
ing a  knowledge  of  their  respective  trades.  In  the  large 
cities,  these  societies  usually  include  in  their  membership 
the  greater  part  of  the  employes  in  the  industrial  pursuits, 
and  such  are  their  organization  and  resources  that  they  can 
often  enforce  their  regulations,  or  produce  serious  embar- 
rassment to  their  employers.  Information  is  to  the  effect 
that  the  number  of  apprentices  allowed  will  average  prob- 
ably only  one  boy  to  every  seven  workmen  ;  that,  while 
in  some  trades  more  liberal  rules  prevail,  in  others  the 
proportion  of  apprery:ices  is  still  less.  The  total  inade- 
quacy of  this  principle  to  supply  the  country  with  skilled 
workmen  is  a  matter  of  universal  complaint ;  and  the  best 
friends  of  the  industrial  classes  must  deeply  regret  that 
societies  which  are  capable  of  so  many  advantages  should 
have  adopted  the  mistaken  idea  of  monopolizing  any 
particular  trade,  by  restricting  the  number  of  those  who 
shall  learn  it.  There  is  apparently  some  reason  in  the 
doctrine  that  a  man  who  has  acquired  his  skill  by  years 


180    EDUCATION  IX  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

of  labor  and  study,  and  who  has  become  an  efficient  work- 
man by  his  own  aptitude  and  diligence,  should  have  a 
perfect  right  to  select  and  limit  those  to  whom  he  will 
give  instruction.  It  is  an  accomplishment  personal  to 
himself  as  much  as  the  tools  of  his  trade ;  and  why,  he 
asks,  should  we  expect  him  to  impart  his  knowledge  to 
others  any  more  than  to  give  away  his  property  ?  K  this 
reasoning  applied  to  property  only,  any  one  would  be 
quite  ready  to  admit  it ;  but  the  knowing  how  to  do  a 
thing  well  stands  on  a  different  title  from  that  of  a  bale 
of  merchandise.  Few  mechanics  have  learned  their  trade 
without  instruction  in  the  manufactory  or  workshop,  and 
I  dare  say  they  never  dreamed  that  they  were  infringing 
upon  anything  in  the  exclusive  nature  of  property. 

Besides,  labor  is  the  only  means  which  the  great  mass 
of  mankind  must  rely  upon  for  subsistence.  They  are 
born  to  this  destiny ;  and  to  deprive  them  of  that  which 
will  enable  them  to  labor  is  to  deprive  them  of  their 
birthright.  It  not  only  limits  industry,  cuts  off  employ- 
ments, and  diminishes  the  productive  power  of  society, 
but  exposes  men  to  all  the  evils  which  are  engendered  by 
want  of  regular  employment.  The  members  of  the  union 
societies  are  undoubtedly  respectable,  intelligent,  and  well- 
meaning  men,  and  do  not  intend  to.produce  consequences 
such  as  we  have  just  been  reflecting  upon ;  but  we  shall 
presently  see  the  effects  of  their  mistaken  policy  upon  the 
rising  generation  of  our  own  youth.  The  exclusive  right 
to  a  trade  in  a  particular  class  is  entirely  inconsistent  with 
a  convenient  division  of  labor,  for  it  interdicts  all  me- 
chanical industry  to  the  great  mass  of  American  children, 
and  interferes  witli  their  right  to  exercise  their  skill  and 
industry  for  their  own  support.     And  if  each  trade  has 


APPRENTICESHIP   AND   THE   TRADES-UNIONS.  181 

its  own  association  and  rules  of  restriction,  then  every 
important  branch  of  human  industry  is  closed  against  all 
but  tiie  favored  few. 

Now,  we  are  well  aware  that  mankind  are  not  gifted 
with  the  intuitive  faculty  of  effecting  the  changes  of  crude 
substances  into  useful  and  desirable  articles  of  consump- 
tion. All  the  mechanic  arts  have  advanced  to  their  pres- 
ent state  of  perfection  by  a  gradual  process  of  invention 
and  adaptation.  The  enormous  mechanical  powers  and 
wonderful  machinery  now  in  use  have  been  reached  by 
the  trials  and  experience  of  many  generations.  Both  sci- 
ence and  art,  man's  application,  ingenuity,  and  necessi- 
ties, have  from  the  earliest  ages  united  their  energies  in 
producing  the  diversified  callings  and  pursuits  of  our 
modern  civilization,  xind  now  the  idea  is  distinctly  pre- 
sented that  these  pursuits  were  not  for  the  general  good 
of  the  race  which  had  accomplished  them,  but  for  the 
particular  occupation  of  a  privileged  class.  It  seems  to 
me  that  the  proposition  answers  itself  and  needs  no  argu- 
ment. 

I  have  no  fault  to  find  with  the  principle  ujion  which 
trade  societies  are  generally  organized.  They  have  exist- 
ed during  the  whole  period  of  industrial  history ;  and,  if 
they  would  adopt  no  otlicr  tests  in  selecting  apprentices 
than  those  having  reference  to  their  physical  capacity, 
age,  and  moral  character,  I  would  leave  the  matter  to  the 
discretion  of  each  particular  trade,  upon  condition  that 
tlicre  ought  to  be  a  practical  course  of  instruction  in  each 
shop,  and  some  skilled  workmen  to  whom  the  apprentice 
could  apply  for  explanation  as  a  matter  of  right.  Each 
society  should  also  provide  a  course  of  technical  instruc- 
tion for  the  members  as  well  as  the  apprentices.     Pro- 


182    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

fessor  Fleeming  Jenkin,  of  the  Edinburgh  University,  in 
a  recent  discourse  delivered  before  a  trades'  counci]  in 
Glasgow,  argues  the  principle  of  apprenticeship.  His 
impression  is  that  the  indenture  system  is  practically 
dead ;  and  he  declares  for  workshop  instruction,  for  tech- 
nical training  in  the  society,  and  that  every  lad  of  good 
character  should  be  eligible  ;  that  there  should  be  a  clas- 
sification of  jobs  and  periodical  examination  of  appren- 
tices. I  take  the  following  striking  passage  from  an  ac- 
count of  the  address : 

The  pay  of  apprentices  should  be  uniform,  while  ap- 
prentices should  be  registered,  and  the  record  of  their  regis- 
tration would  be  a  certificate,  not  only  of  character  and 
competency,  but  it  might  also  be  a  high  honor.  He 
would  have  competitions  between  the  apprentices  in  dif- 
ferent shops  and  towns,  principally  for  Jionorary  but  also 
for  substantial  rewards,  and  the  highest  of  these  he  would 
call  traveling  scholarships.  The  final  sanction  he  should 
like  to  see  applied  would  be  that  a  lad  who  had  gone 
through  a  definite  course  of  that  kind  with  credit  should 
be  received  into  a  trades-union  on  better  terms  than  those 
who  had  not  received  such  an  education.  What  he  had 
sketched  would  be  a  real  technical  education  that  would 
make  a  man  a  good  workman. 

Trade  societies  organized  upon  this  plan  would  serve 
to  raise  a  higli  tone  of  character  by  requiring  a  standard 
of  education  and  moral  worth  as  the  only  means  of  admis- 
sion ;  and  an  adequate  degree  of  skill  and  workmanship 
would  be  maintained  by  regulations  made  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  society  and  of  the  community.  The  scheme 
might  be  rendered  still  more  useful  to  all  the  members 
by  occasional  lectures  upon  the  principles  of  science  ap- 
pertaining  to   each  particular  industry.     The  plumbing 


APPRENTICESHIP   AND   THE   TRADES-UNIONS.  183 

trade  should  have  a  course  of  scientific  instruction  on  the 
subject  of  sanitary  engineering;  the  building  trades,  on 
architectural  drawing,  and  the  principles  governing  the 
strength  of  materials,  the  solidity  of  walls,  and  the  bearing 
of  arches ;  the  dyer  or  calico-printer,  on  the  leading  prin- 
ciples of  organic  colors  and  how  they  become  insoluble 
on  textile  fabrics ;  and  so  on,  with  all  the  other  voca- 
tions, where  technical  information  would  improve  the 
knowledge  and  lead  to  a  higher  standard  of  excellence 
in  workmanship.  The  technical  education  of  workmen 
ought  to  be  provided  for  by  themselves,  for  no  other  peo- 
ple can  do  it  so  well.  In  each  workshop  there  should  be 
a  course  of  instruction.  We  have  seen  that  the  industrial 
classes  can  organize  societies  possessing  intelligence  and 
resources.  Why  can  not  they  devise  a  scheme  of  educa- 
tion ?  It  would  cost  less  and  fare  better  than  an  unsuc- 
cessful strike,  and  would  leave  the  whole  subject  of  ap- 
prenticeship in  their  own  hands.  There  is  no  way  now 
existing  by  which  the  young  artisan  can  become  an  effi- 
cient workman  in  the  shortest  time  possible.  And  the 
time  is  near  at  hand  when,  if  they  provide  no  means  of 
attaining  that  object,  some  scheme  of  education  will  be 
put  in  operation  which  will.  But  of  this  we  will  speak 
by-and-by. 

Just  here  let  me  observe  that  something  approaching 
the  plan  here  proposed  has  been  tried  during  some  years 
in  England,  under  the  name  of  the  LTniversity  Extension 
Scheme,  which  is  fully  delineated  by  a  recent  Avriter,  who 
obtained  his  information  at  the  Bureau  of  Education : 

In  1873  several  of  the  large  towns  in  England  peti- 
tioned the  University  of  Cambridge  to  supply  them  with 
courses  of  lectures  on  the  subjects  required  for  the  uni- 


184    EDUCATION  IX  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

versity  degrees  in  arts,  on  condition  that  the  requisite 
funds  should  be  provided  by  the  local  authorities. 

In  response  to  this  application  a  syndicate  was  formed 
to  consider  and  advise  upon  the  matter.  At  its  recom- 
mendation a  system  was  proposed,  under  the  name  of  the 
University  Extension  Scheme,  and  inaugurated.  Classes 
were  formed,  and  courses  of  lectures  were  delivered  in 
1874-'75  at  different  towns.  The  subjects  of  the  lectures 
were  political  economy,  the  constitutional  history  of  Eng- 
land, social  history,  English  literature,  logic,  astronomy, 
light,  spectrum  analysis,  geology,  and  physical  geography. 
The  courses  were  from  three  to  six  months  in  duration. 

The  number  of  persons  attending  was  3,500,  of  whom 
984  were  examined,  315  obtained  first-class  certificates, 
and  570  second-class.  In  1876  thirty  towns  were  visited, 
the  attendance  rose  to  7,000,  and  1,700  students  present- 
ed themselves  for  examination.  In  1 877-' 78  courses  of 
lectures  were  given  at  twenty-one  centers,  which  were  at- 
tended by  upward  of  10,000,  out  of  which  1,088  presented 
themselves  for  examination. 

An  endeavor  is  made  to  meet  the  requirements  and 
circumstances  of  all  classes  of  society.  The  courses  of 
lectures  which  are  given  in  the  mornings  and  afternoons 
are  mainly  attended  by  the  wealthier  inhabitants  of  both 
sexes ;  at  the  evening  lectures  working-men  preponderate. 
A  -considerable  number  of  elementary  school-teachers  at- 
tend in  all  the  towns. 

The  amount  of  the  fees  paid  by  the  student  is  set- 
tled by  the  local  committees.  They  range  from  Is.  6d.  to 
£1  Is.  for  the  complete  course,  but  they  very  seldom  ex- 
ceed lO.s.  In  several  centers  the  fees  are  quite  sufficient 
to  pay  all  the  expenses. 

This  interesting  method  of  popularizing  university 
education  goes  much  further  than  is  required  for  a  man- 
ual and  technical  education  by  which  the  apprentice  may 
gradually  become  an  accomplished  artisan,  and  may  there- 


AMERICAN  BOYS.  185 

fore  serve  the  purpose  of  illustrating  what  might  be  at- 
tained with  less  effort  by  the  same  class  in  this  country. 

We  may,  then,  submit  that  the  question  of  wages,  the 
hours  to  constitute  a  day's  labor,  the  exclusion  of  chil- 
dren until  old  enough,  the  admission  of  women  to  the 
trades,  the  protection  of  employes  injured  when  engaged 
in  a  common  employment,  the  duty  of  mutual  assistance 
in  periods  of  distress,  and  the  manual  and  technical  educa- 
tion of  younger  workmen,  present  relations  about  which 
each  trade  knows  its  own  requirements  ;  and  it  is  only  by 
organization  that  they  can  explain  and  carry  out  their 
views  and  maintain  their  interests.  But  beyond  this  they 
have  no  moral  right  to  set  up  close  corporations  for  the 
purpose  of  preventing  other  competent  persons  from  the 
exercise  of  industry  in  learning  a  trade.  Besides,  if  our 
boys  were  trained  systematically  in  the  mechanic  arts, 
trades  would  increase  and  industries  multiply  by  their 
skill  and  ingenuity,  yielding  employment  to  our  own  peo- 
ple. But,  instead  of  that,  we  are  obliged  to  import  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  skilled  artisans  from  abroad,  while 
our  American  boys  are  roaming  the  streets  in  idleness. 
Most  of  them  are  willing  to  work,  but  find  nothing  to  do, 
and  are  compelled  to  engage  in  any  mean  and  subordinate 
employment  that  will  afford  a  precarious  support.  The 
question  is  presented  whether  our  trades  are  to  be  given 
up  to  foreigners,  or  taken  by  our  own  people.  What  are 
the  boys  to  do  ?  We  talk  much  of  their  fast  ways,  their 
vagrant  habits,  and  their  fearful  tendency  to  vice,  and  we 
scold  them,  as  if  they  alone  were  accountable  for  the  bad- 
ly-ordered condition  of  their  needs.  Our  failure  to  pro- 
vide suitable  employment  for  them  often  leads  to  cases 
of  open  rebellion  against  parental  restraint,  for  they  will 


186    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

not  generally  act  upon  their  own  will  unless  left  in  idle- 
ness. Let  us  remember  that  thcj  cannot  become  carpen- 
ters, blacksmiths,  silver  and  gold  smiths,  watch-makers,  ma- 
sons, or  printers,  without  opportunities  of  learning  these 
occupations,  and  we  have  seen  that  they  are  refused  ad- 
mission into  the  workshop.  Our  children  are  generally 
regarded  as  apt  to  prefer  anything  but  work.  It  does  not 
appear  to  be  so  among  families  where  there  is  any  effort 
at  a  respectable  life.  On  the  contrary,  upon  attaining 
the  proper  age,  it  will  be  found  that  boys  are  generally 
anxious  to  work,  and  especially  to  leani  some  industrial 
art.  But  the  doors  of  the  remunerative  trades  are  closed 
upon  them,  and  the  cities  are  gradually  filling  up  with 
an  unskilled  populace  deprived  of  the  means  of  physical 
prosperity.  The  scriptural  injunction,  "  Train  up  a  child 
in  the  way  he  should  go,"  is  ignored  as  to  the  boys  of  the 
street,  who  are  not  trained  at  all,  or  only  in  their  natu- 
ral predispositions  of  idleness  and  vice,  from  which  they 
do  not  depart  in  their  manhood.  The  bad  boy  is  apt  to 
make  the  bad  man.  He  grows  up  without  any  promise 
of  usefulness,  and  will  likely  develop  into  the  tramp  or 
criminal.  Boys  who  are  allowed  to  spend  their  time  in 
idleness  contract  vicious  habits,  and  only  in  rare  instances 
become  honest  men.  The  chances  are  that  they  will  gradu- 
ate from  the  street  without  respect  for  either  God  or  man, 
and  their  theoretical  information,  if  they  have  any,  will  be 
drawn  from  reading  the  pernicious  literature  of  the  day, 
whose  corrupting  influence  is  realized  in  their  dail}'  life. 
Their  pride  to  earn  a  lining  and  achieve  an  honorable  posi- 
tion is  gone,  because  there  is  nothing  for  them  to  do.  Their 
want  of  employment  is  enforced.  Tliey  are  cut  off  from  a 
life  of  useful  activity,  for,  when  the  trades  are  practically 


AMERICAN  BOYS.  187 

closed  to  our  boys,  there  is  scarcely  any  other  path  left 
open  for  a  career  of  industry.  They  cannot  be  expected  to 
fit  themselves  for  skilled  work,  when  the  workshops  will 
only  receive  the  few  to  whom  that  favor  is  extended  by 
the  rules  of  the  societies.  They  instinctively  turn  from 
digging  and  shoveling — for  there  are  few  young  men  with 
the  supreme  energy  of  the  late  George  Law,  who  com- 
menced life  by  carrying  a  hod — so  that  there  are  really  no 
means  of  employment  left  to  lure  our  youth  from  idleness 
or  to  excite  their  enterprise  and  ambition.  To  be  brought 
up  as  errand-boys  and  messengers,  or  to  hawk  newspa- 
pers, vend  pea-nuts,  or  even  carry  the  hod,  are  not  fitting 
employments  for  American  boys.  If  you  doubt  their 
willingness  to  work,  advertise  that  a  boy  is  wanted  in  an 
office  or  a  workshop,  and  there  will  be  hundreds  of  ap- 
plications within  the  same  day  ;  and  your  heart  will  ache 
at  the  pleading  supplications  of  the  mothers  and  sisters 
and  other  relatives,  each  with  a  boy  for  the  vacant  place. 
An  editor  recently  inserted  such  an  advertisement  in  his 
paper  ;  and  he  writes  that  he  was  overwhelmed  with  ap- 
plicants, and  that  they  pleaded  only  as  those  struggling 
with  grim  poverty  can  plead,  and  the  struggle  with  hu- 
man pride  and  gaunt  want  was  such  as  ought  to  move  the 
stoutest  heart  to  pity.  The  anxious  and  inquiring  look 
of  the  young  boys  as  they  simply  pleaded  for  work,  the 
strained  attention  with  which  they  listened  to  the  reply 
which  was  to  make  them  supremely  happy  or  crush  their 
young  hopes  with  heavy  disappointment,  were  most  pain- 
ful to  behold. 

It  is  often  said  that  these  boys  do  not  attend  the  pub- 
lic schools.  This,  however,  is  far  from  being  true ;  but 
they  either  stray  away,  from  a  disinclination  to  study,  or 


188    EDUCATION  IX  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

have  learned  no  useful  work  by  wliicli  tliey  can  earn  a 
living,  and  so  lapse  into  idleness  and  vice.  Even  among 
those  who  go  through  the  regular  course  of  studies  we 
find  the  same  fruitless  search  for  something  or  anything 
to  do.  They  flock  to  the  cities,  to  become  shopmen  or 
agents  of  some  kind.  They  are  mostly  clever,  and  can 
turn  their  hands  to  almost  anything  but  honest  work.  A 
Philadelphia  merchant  advertised  for  a  book-keeper,  and  in 
a  few  hours  received  six  hundred  and  seventy-three  appli- 
cants, nearly  all  of  whom  asked  a  compensation  that  would 
not  exceed  two  thirds  of  the  wages  of  a  skilled  artisan  ;  and 
upon  that  they  struggle  to  maintain  a  shabby-genteel  exist- 
ence. They  are  well  educated  as  things  go,  and  scorn  to 
work  by  hand,  and,  poor  as  they  are,  they  would  rather 
beg  and  fawn  for  any  kind  of  a  job  to  employ  the  brain, 
but  not  the  hand  !  A  good  mechanic  has  seldom  occasion 
to  advertise  for  employment.  He  thoroughly  understands 
the  enjoyment  of  independence,  for  his  skill  is  in  demand, 
and  he  can  almost  dictate  his  own  terms.  He,  moreover, 
belongs  to  a  class  that  is  increasing  in  numbers,  intelligence, 
influence,  and  social  position  ;  and  which  has  the  advantage 
of  organizing  into  associations  for  the  management  of  their 
own  interests  and  protection.  This  is  infinitely  prefer- 
able to  the  shabby-genteel  element  in  society,  that  is  con- 
stantly crowding  for  situations  of  every  description,  ex- 
cept those  dependent  upon  hand-work.  To  such  mis- 
guided youths  I  commend  the  following  excellent  remarks 
of  James  Parton,  the  well-known  writer : 

Compare  the  mecham'cs  in  the  Novelty  Works  with 
the  clerks  in  Stewart's  store.  The  clerks  are  excellent 
fellows  ;  they  look  well,  dress  well,  understand  their  busi- 
ness, and  are  in  every  respect  worthy  members  of  society ; 


AMERICAN  DOYS.  189 

but  our  best  mechanics  have  a  certain  force  of  manhood, 
a  weight  of  character,  and  depth  of  reflection,  rarely  seen 
in  those  who  only  buy  and  sell. 

I  should  be  sorry  to  say  anything  to  disparage  our  in- 
stitutions of  learning.  Nevertheless,  I  feel  confident  that 
an  intelligent  youth  who  remains  at  school  until  he  is 
sixteen  or  seventeen,  and  then  apprentices  to  a  good  trade, 
can  get  a  better  education  out  of  his  shop  (with  an  hour's 
study  of  principles  in  the  evening)  than  it  is  possible  to 
get  in  any  college  in  existence — that  is  to  say,  a  better 
education  for  this  new  and  forming  country,  where,  for 
fifty  years  at  least  to  come,  no  man  can  hope  to  play  a 
leading  part,  except  in  wielding  material  forces. 

I  say,  then,  lads  of  sixteen,  if  you  would  lay  a  founda- 
tion for  sure  prosperity,  begin  by  learning  a  trade.  If 
you  would  escape  the  perdition  of  being  a  fool,  learn  a 
trade.  If  you  would  do  a  man's  part  for  your  country, 
begin  the  work  of  preparation  by  learning  a  trade. 

Since  the  practical  extinction  of  the  apprenticeship 
system,  there  is  no  remedy  but  the  industrial  school, 
which  will  teach  the  useful  in  human  labor,  and  where 
the  pupils  will  cease  to  look  down  upon  mechanical 
skill  as  an  inferior  or  degrading  pursuit.  The  won- 
derful additions  to  our  knowledge,  almost  within  the 
memory  of  our  own  generation,  oifer  the  noblest  field  for 
the  employment  of  our  young  men.  We  have  discovered 
numberless  forms  of  applied  science,  and  many  more  are 
at  this  moment  on  the  verge  of  our  horizon.  Instead  of 
shoveling  grain  by  hand,  there  is  the  huge  elevator  which 
loads  and  unloads  immense  cargoes  for  all  the  populous 
marts  of  the  world  ;  and  our  railroads,  telegraphs,  tele- 
phones, and  electric  lights,  reveal  new  realms  of  discov- 
ery. The  merely  literary  education  of  the  public  school 
must  be  combined  with  the  practice  of  manual  art,  for 


190    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

this  union  will  be  invested  with  new  and  amazing  func- 
tions, and  the  young  men  will  become  skilled  in  what 
may  be  necessary  to  carry  forward  the  economic  develop- 
ments of  all  our  industries.  In  these  pursuits,  the  great- 
est triumphs  of  the  world  are  hereafter  to  be  attained ; 
and  any  one  with  ambition  and  mechanical  ability  of  any 
sort  should  not  hesitate  to  select  some  useful  pursuit,  for 
of  such  will  bo  the  inventors  and  successful  men  of  the 
future. 

If  the  commercial  cities  are  crowded  with  young  men 
who  have  no  higher  ambition  than  to  obtain  a  clerkship, 
how  much  larger  must  the  number  be  here  in  Washing- 
ton, where  the  compensation  for  mere  clerical  labor  is  the 
maximum !  They  swarm  in  duplicated  thousands,  a  bur- 
den to  themselves  and  a  constant  trial  to  their  friends. 
This  condition  of  affairs  does  not  arise  because  there  is 
nothing  to  do.  In  every  branch  of  skilled  industry  there 
is  an  active  demand  for  good  workmen.  In  consequence 
of  the  scarcity  of  competent  artisans,  much  work  has  to 
be  postponed,  so  that  while  the  poor  bo}^,  who  is  not  per- 
mitted to  learn  a  trade,  and  the  well-educated  graduate, 
are  going  about  begging,  hat  in  hand,  for  a  place,  me- 
chanical and  artistic  skill  are  far  above  par,  and  possess 
the  supreme  consciousness  of  knowing  that  they  have 
produced  more  than  the  worth  of  what  they  have  re- 
ceived. This  unnatural  condition  could  not  exist  if  our 
youth  were  taught  the  use  of  tools ;  and  the  avenues  of 
mere  clerical  labor  would  not  be  crowded  by  jostling 
thousands  who  have  lived  to  regret  in  want  and  bitter- 
ness that  they  have  no  trade,  and  who  are  now  beginning 
to  learn  that  there  is  independence  in  honest  work  and 
true  manhood  in  manual  industry. 


AMERICAN  BOYS.  191 

The  ambition  of  parents  to  have  their  children  rise 
in  the  world  comes  from  an  affectionate  interest  in  their 
welfare.  Thej  are  apt  to  think  that  mechanical  industry 
is  demeaning.  This  false  idea  corrupts  the  children,  and 
drives  untold  thousands  into  all  sorts  of  pursuits  where 
they  have  little  chance  of  either  usefulness  or  happiness. 
Children  are  born  with  certain  aptitudes.  This  is  equally 
true  of  the  artisan  as  of  the  poet,  and,  if  properly  trained, 
they  insure  success  and  an  honorable  career.  A  child 
ought  to  be  taught  that  for  which  he  has  a  natural  bent, 
and  in  which  lie  can  do  the  best  for  himself,  and  thus  in- 
sure a  permanent  habit  of  industry  suited  to  his  abilities. 

An  appeal  is  made  to  all  parents  to  bring  their  com- 
mon sense  to  bear  upon  this  subject,  and  to  discard  all 
false  ideas  in  regard  to  honest  work.  Heaven  has  given 
you  children,  and  you  should  bring  them  up  to  be  useful 
members  of  society.  Are  you  aware  that  the  neglect  of 
this  solemn  duty  makes  you  responsible  for  their  errors, 
and  for  the  misery  and  unhappiness  they  may  suffer? 
When  boys  are  permitted  to  roam  about  the  streets  of  a 
large  city,  they  soon  become  acquainted  with  low,  vulgar, 
and  vicious  habits,  and  they  will  be  found  at  the  places 
of  public  resorts,  using  profanity  and  slang,  and  quite 
likely  making  disturbances.  They  are  out  late  at  night, 
rioting  in  the  company  of  the  abandoned,  and  improv- 
ing more  and  more  in  the  practice  of  vice,  and  the  art  of 
going  to  the  penitentiary.  The  parent  who  permits  this 
is  an  accomplice  in  the  crime  of  his  son,  which  might 
have  been  prevented  by  an  exercise  of  parental  authority. 
Hundreds  of  young  men  and  boys  furnish  lamentable 
proofs  of  this  evil  tendency.  Many  respectable  parents 
acknowledge  that  their  boys  are  wild,  but  declare  that 


192    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

they  cannot  help  it,  when  really  they  have  only  them- 
selves to  blarae  for  the  want  of  power  over  their  chil- 
dren. Youth  need  correction,  because  prone  to  evil, 
and,  above  all  things,  require  some  steady  discipline, 
either  of  work  or  study,  or  of  both  at  once,  to  make  them 
mindful  of  their  duty,  and  to  convince  tliem  that  atten- 
tion to  something  useful  is  far  more  attractive  than  rev- 
elry, dissipation,  and  idleness.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the 
principal  cause  of  the  enormous  increase  of  vice  and  pau- 
perism may  be  found  in  the  careless  and  wicked  manner 
in  which  children  are  now  trained,  or  rather  in  the  want 
of  any  training  at  all.  As  soon  as  a  boy  reaches  ten  or 
fifteen  years  of  age,  and  is  put  to  no  useful  pursuit  or 
study,  he  is  very  apt  to  fancy  himself  a  man,  and  he  be- 
lieves the  best  proof  of  his  being  a  man  consists  in  disre- 
garding parental  admonitions,  in  pursuing  his  own  way, 
and  keeping  his  own  company,  and  he  then  travels  with 
wonderful  rapidity  toward  the  domain  of  want  and  per- 
haps infamy.  Hence  the  streets  swarm  with  idlers  and 
loafers  of  high  and  low  degree.  These  facts  stare  every 
one  in  the  face,  without  causing  us  to  reflect  that  these 
street  Arabs  do  not  make  their  own  tempers  and  surround- 
ings, but  inherit  them  by  their  birth  and  the  examples  at 
home.  A  child  was  asked  what  boys  were  good  for,  and 
replied,  "  To  make  men  of  "  ;  so  each  one  of  these  vagrants 
is  capable  of  being  made  a  good  man.  The  lucidity  of  a 
gem  is  not  apparent  until  it  is  polished.  It  is  the  same 
with  character.  However  low  in  estate  it  may  appear, 
care  and  cultivation  can  raise  it  above  its  condition  and 
make  it  grand  and  beautiful.  We  should  remember  that 
our  offspring  inherit  not  only  our  lineaments  but  our 
moral  nature,  and  that  our  example  may  elevate  or  mod- 


MORAL  INFLUENCE   OF  INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS.         193 

ify  their  life  and  character.  A  wealthy  merchant  recently 
made  a  sagacious  remark,  viz.,  that  he  was  going  to  have 
all  his  sons  learn  a  trade  of  some  kind,  so  that  they  should 
have  something  to  fall  back  upon,  in  case  adversity  or 
misfortune  ever  overtook  them  in  the  business  he  should 
leave  them.  So  every  father  who  would  restrain  his  son 
from  entering  the  habitation  of  vice,  who  would  correct 
him  when  correction  was  salutary,  who  would  insist  upon 
his  attention  to  moral  and  religious  improvement,  and 
who  would  teach  him  to  be  generous  and  upright,  must, 
in  addition  to  all  these,  insist  that  education  shall  include 
practical  lessons  in  some  useful  art  or  trade.  Until  this 
reformation  in  teaching  the  young  takes  place,  the  poor 
workman  and  the  poor  boy  will  swell  the  increasing  ranks 
of  poverty  and  turbulence. 

This  remedy  is  suggested,  not  only  upon  a  theory 
which  seems  reasonable  in  itself,  but  also  upon  the  distinct 
ground  of  experience  in  nearly  every  country  on  the  Con- 
tinent of  Europe.  The  French  Imperial  Commission,  ap- 
pointed June  22,  1863,  to  inquire  into  the  character  6i 
technical  instruction  throughout  France,  speaking  of  the 
moral  and  intellectual  eifects  of  the  apprentice-schools  in 
Belgium,  declare  that  the  pupils  in  those  workshops  learn 
reading,  writing,  the  rudiments  of  arithmetic,  etc.,  almost 
as  rapidly  as  those  who  are  obliged  to  remain  in  school  all 
day ;  and  that  experience  has  proved  that  the  introduc- 
tion of  literary  and  moral  instruction  is  effected  with 
the  greatest  facility  in  the  workshops,  and  that  it  pro- 
duces an  excellent  effect  on  the  character  and  morals  of 
the  young  workmen.  At  that  date  fifty-four  apprentice- 
schools  had  been  established  in  the  kingdom,  in  most  of 
which  primary  instruction  was  given  to  the  extent  desired, 


194    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

and  the  number  of  workmen  they  bad  turned  out  in  a 
period  of  twelve  years  for  a  single  industry,  that  of  weav- 
ing, amounted  to  13,481 — the  greater  part  rescued  from 
want,  mendicity,  and  all  the  vices  tbey  engender.  The 
same  report  also  says  that  "  the  oflBcial  reports  published 
at  Bruges,  in  1863,  show  that  everywhere  instruction  and 
habits  of  regular  employment  have  produced  the  most 
successful  results  in  improving  the  morals  not  only  of  the 
children,  but  also  of  the  parents,  and  that  mendicity  and 
vagrancy  have  almost  entirely  disappeared  from  those  dis- 
tricts "  where  the  apprentice-schools  are  established. 

All  must  admit  that  these  observations  agree  with 
the  experience  of  every  community  where  the  youth  are 
educated  and  brought  up  to  steady  employment.  It  pro- 
ceeds upon  the  theory  that  they  should  receive  such  in- 
struction as  would  enable  them  to  enter  upon  some  useful 
pursuit,  and  at  the  same  time  give  them  an  opportunity 
to  acquire  a  general  education,  so  that  they  will  turn  out 
to  be  good  workmen  and  intelligent  social  beings.  This 
is  the  need  of  this  nation.  Industrial  education  is  our 
notorious  want.  A  thousand  things  combine  to  mold  the 
institutions  of  a  people.  Commerce,  climate,  the  attrac- 
tion of  novel  inventions,  the  love  of  imitation,  and  the 
vicissitudes  of  war — all  contribute  to  national  character. 
But  the  ornamentation  of  human  existence  will  hereafter 
evolve  the  most  important  additions  to  human  wealth  and 
advancement ;  and  Art-Industry,  that  waxing  giant  of  the 
future,  is  already  at  the  doors  of  our  educational  system, 
knocking  for  admission,  and  promising,  not  only  to  fur- 
nish skill  to  our  labor,  but  to  elevate  our  taste,  and  embel- 
lish our  ordinary  existence  with  its  cheerful  and  refining 
influence.    I  know  there  is  a  sentimental  prejudice  which 


MORAL  INFLUENCE  OF  INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS.         195 

considers  that  it  mars  the  high  claims  and  moral  influence 
of  truth  and  knowledge  to  measure  them  by  their  power 
of  administering  to  some  useful  purpose.  We  should  love 
truth  for  its  own  sake  undoubtedly,  but  we  should  also 
remember  that  there  is  no  truth  worthy  of  our  considera- 
tion which  will  not  benefit  mankind.  Hence  it  is  that  in 
every  effort  to  diffuse  popular  knowledge  or  particular 
instruction,  and  in  every  application  of  science  to  the  use- 
ful arts,  genius  and  learning  often  find  their  most  impor- 
tant and  interesting  employment.  Attainments  in  knowl- 
edge are  often  supposed  by  the  ignorant  to  be  of  no  real  im- 
portance, and  are  frequently  ridiculed  as  being  barren  of 
all  practical  utility.  But  nothing  could  be  more  mistaken 
than  this.  There  is  no  branch  of  industrial  art  which 
does  not  owe,  for  the  most  part,  its  improved  processes  to 
a  discovery  of  the  laws  of  nature  ;  and  the  most  useful 
inventions  and  improvements  have  resulted  from  scientific 
research.  And  so  art,  industry,  virtue,  knowledge,  benefi- 
cence, fidelity  to  principle — all  in  their  places — contrib- 
ute to  the  wealth,  permanence,  and  prosperity  of  a  na- 
tion. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

Education  of  young  artisans — Apprenticeship — English  legislation — Mr. 
Jevons's  views — Adam  Smith's  opinion — Practically  no  apprenticeship 
in  the  United  States — Technological  schools  in  Europe — Trade-schools  in 
Germany — Established  by  law — Supported  by  the  state  or  local  author- 
ities— The  school  at  Hamburg — Trade-schools  the  most  interesting — 
The  one  at  Barmen — Drawing  in  all  the  German  schools — The  school 
at  Chemnitz — Schools  at  Vienna — Technical  education  in  Switzerland 
— The  great  benefits  thereof  to  that  country — Opinion  of  the  French 
minister  in  that  country — The  first  industrial  school  founded  there  by 
Pestalozzi — These  institutions  in  France — After  the  Crystal  Palace 
Exposition — A  commission  appointed — Important  changes — Classifica- 
tion of  industrial  schools  by  Professor  Thompson — Impossible  to  exem- 
plify them  separately — £coh  municipal  d'apprcnds — Account  of  the  same 
— Visit  of  British  Commission  to  the  same — French  industrial  schools  not 
national — ilcole  SairU-Nicolas — School  at  Roubaix — Government  support 
within  two  years — The  republican  government  established  a  national 
system  recently  —  Schools  in  Belgium  —  Those  at  Ghent,  Toumay, 
Verviers,  and  the  cities — Apprentice-school  for  weaving — Technical 
education  in  Great  Britain — Letter  of  the  Chancellor — Views  of  Mr. 
McLaren — Report  of  the  British  Commission — Questions  which  arise 
as  to  effect  in  Europe — Is  it  suitable  for  the  United  States  ? — Universal 
opinion  in  its  favor — Report  of  the  British  Commission — French  commis- 
sion of  inspection — School  la  Villefte — Corbon,  senator,  upon  the  same — 
Tolain,  senator,  on  apprenticeship-schools — Industrial  training  the  neces- 
sity of  the  age — Good  effect  on  the  industrial  classes — Opinion  on  this 
subject — Views  of  educators  in  the  United  States — Shall  it  be  in  the 
public  school  ? — Different  views  entertained — Dr.  E.  E.  White — John 
E.  Clarke — The  necessity  of  this  instruction  admitted. 

Anything  relating  to  the  subject  of  industry  ought  to 
be  treated  as  worthy  of  fair  and  deliberate  attention  by 


APPRENTICESUIP.  197 

the  American  people.  The  manner  of  educating  youth- 
ful artisans  presents  a  topic  of  immense  interest,  and  it  is 
impossible  for  us,  conscious  of  our  great  industrial  power, 
to  neglect  much  longer  proper  measures  for  industrial 
training  which  will  be  both  practical  and  potential.  For- 
merly, by  the  statute  law  of  England,  an  apprenticeship  of 
seven  years  was  recognized  as  the  legal  mode  of  entering 
a  trade,  but  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  Parlia- 
ment repealed  all  legislation  upon  the  subject.  In  a  work 
entitled  "  The  State  in  Relation  to  Labor,"  Mr.  Jevons,  a 
brilliant  writer  on  political  economy,  complains  of  the 
practice  of  binding  youths  to  long  periods  of  apprentice- 
ship, and  notes  with  much  earnestness  that  it  has  fallen 
into  desuetude,  and  discusses  the  common  law  still  in 
force,  which  allows  a  parent  to  bind  a  child  to  a  long  term 
of  industrial  servitude ;  and  he  thinks  it  to  be  a  question 
whether  it  ought  not  also  to  be  abolished.  He  confirms 
his  own  views  by  a  well-known  passage  from  Adam  Smith 
("  Wealth  of  Nations,"  vol.  i,  p.  110)  in  which  that  great 
author  uses  the  following  language  : 

The  institution  of  long  apprenticeship  has  no  tend- 
ency to  form  young  people  to  industry.  A  journeyman 
who  works  by  the  piece  is  likely  to  be  industrious,  be- 
cause he  derives  a  benefit  from  every  exertion  of  his  in- 
dustry. An  apprentice  is  likely  to  be  idle,  and  almost 
always  is  so,  because  he  has  no  immediate  interest  to  be 
otherwise.  ...  A  young  man  naturally  conceives  an  aver- 
sion to  labor,  when  for  a  long  time  he  receives  no  benefit 
from  it.  ...  A  young  man  would  practice  with  much 
more  diligence  and  attention,  if  from  the  beginning  he 
wrought  as  a  journeyman,  being  paid  in  proportion  to  the 
little  work  which  he  could  execute,  and  paying  in  his  turn 
for  the  materials  which  he  might  sometimes  spoil  through 


198    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

awkwardness  and  inexperience.  His  education  would  in 
this  way  be  more  effectual,  and  always  less  tedious  and 
expensive. 

No  other  mode  of  learning  an  industry  is  suggested 
or  prescribed  by  these  authors,  unless  it  be  to  limit  the 
term  to  a  less  number  of  years,  and  to  pay  the  apprentice 
for  what  work  he  executes.  In  the  United  States  it  can 
scarcely  be  said  that  there  is  any  mode  of  acquiring  a 
trade,  except  that  the  boys  admitted  into  the  shops  or 
factories  pick  up  their  knowledge  from  seeing  the  man- 
ual work  of  others.  There  is  no  one  responsible  for  their 
instruction ;  and  of  technical  education  there  is  none  at 
all.  Hence  we  stand  beneath  every  other  civilized  nation 
in  the  productions  of  art-industry  ;  and  yet  there  is  no 
nation  where  there  is  a  greater  demand  for  first-class 
articles.  Technical  education  in  our  workshops  has  no 
existence ;  and,  as  this  want  is  not  supplied  by  the  trade- 
societies,  it  must  be  provided  for  outside  of  them ;  for 
this  country  cannot  afford  to  draw  its  skilled  labor  from 
other  countries,  and  allow  its  own  people  to  drift  upon 
circumstances  as  the  only  available  resource  of  sustenance. 
The  technological  schools  of  Europe  are  very  numerous, 
especially  in  France,  Germany,  Austria,  and  Switzerland  ; 
and  they  are  generally  equipped  with  machinery  and 
workshops  for  teaching  thoroughly  and  systematically  the 
actual  work  required  in  the  various  trades  and  the  arts  con- 
nected with  them  ;  and  their  pupils  learn  to  become  civil 
engineers,  foremen  in  commercial  and  industrial  establish- 
ments, and  skilled  in  a  variety  of  mechanical  operations. 

Inferior  to  these  great  institutions,  lesser  schools  are 
found  in  various  parts  of  Europe  to  assist  in  the  educa- 
tion of  the  apprentice. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS   IN  EUROPE  199 

The  Gewerbe  Schulen^  or  trade-schools,  in  Germany 
are  very  numerous,  and  constitute  a  harmonious  branch 
in  the  general  system  of  public  education.  Elementary 
schools  appear  to  be  graded  into  lower  and  higher,  and 
attendance  is  compulsory  in  the  former  until  the  age  of 
fourteen.  Other  schools  are  then  provided  by  the  state, 
according  to  the  pursuits  which  the  children  are  to  take  in 
after-life.  The  Real  Schule  leads  to  the  polytechnic 
school,  and  the  Gymnasium  to  the  university,  and  the 
Gewerhe  Schulen,  or  trade-schools,  are  designed  for  those 
pupils  who  intend  to  follow  industry.  The  children  are 
admitted  into  the  trade-schools  from  the  elementary 
schools,  and  are  fitted  for  their  respective  occupations  in 
the  completest  manner  possible  with  the  conditions  of  the 
school ;  and  the  best  pupils  are  allowed  to  pass  into  the 
higher  institutions,  where  a  technical  education  is  given 
in  all  kinds  of  applied  science. 

The  trade-schools  are  established  by  law,  and  support- 
ed by  the  state,  and  sometimes  also  by  the  local  authori- 
ties where  they  are  situated.  As,  for  instance,  the  city 
of  Hamburg,  in  1874,  voted  $600,000  for  a  building  to 
accommodate  a  "  General  Industrial  School,  and  a  School 
for  Building-Mechanics."  This  was  also  the  case  with 
the  schools  of  Griinberg,  Miilheim,  Chemnitz,  Crefeld, 
and  several  other  places.  There  are  also  schools  that  re- 
ceive no  aid  from  the  state,  and  which  are  established  by 
societies  of  manufacturers  for  the  improvement  of  their 
fabrics.  !N"one  of  these  schools  are  supported  by  private 
liberality.  The  state  does  all,  except  where  the  local 
municipalities  bear  a  portion  of  the  expense. 

Mr.  McLaren,  during  a  journey  through  Germany  in 
1878,  learned  many  facts  concerning  its  educational  sys- 


200    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

tem,  and,  after  stating  how  education  is  divided  and  clas- 
sified, remarks  that  the  most  interesting  of  the  ordinary 
German  schools  are  these  trade-schools  for  bojs  who  in- 
tend to  follow  some  business  where  scientific  knowledge 
is  necessary  or  desirable.  One  of  the  most  complete  is  at 
Barmen,  in  Rhenish  Prussia.  The  curriculum  comprises 
twenty-two  studies,  and  among  them  are  algebra,  geom- 
etry, higher  mathematics,  mensuration  and  land-survey- 
ing, building  construction,  natural  philosophy,  mechanics, 
chemistry  with  work  in  a  laboratory,  mineralogy,  botany, 
drawing,  writing,  and  singing.  Each  scholar  chooses  those 
subjects  which  are  likely  to  be  useful  to  him  in  after-life, 
and  with  such  a  large  variety  it  is  plain  that  almost  every 
trade  must  be  more  or  less  represented.  In  all  German 
schools  drawing  is  considered  of  great  importance,  both 
on  account  of  the  pleasure  it  gives,  and  its  refining  influ- 
ence upon  the  mind,  and  on  account  of  its  great  use  in 
all  manufacturing  trades.  At  this  school  there  were 
about  350  day-scholars,  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  artisan 
population  whose  children  have  to  work  during  the  day- 
time, there  are  evening-classes  which  are  largely  attended, 
and  for  which  the  fee  is  about  seventy-five  cents  a  half 
year.  The  school  at  Barmen  was  erected  at  a  cost  of 
£15,000,  and  the  one  at  Elberfeld,  which  joins  Barmen, 
at  a  cost  of  £20,000.  At  Chemnitz,  the  chief  manufact- 
uring town  of  Saxony,  a  magnificent  trade-school  has  been 
built,  costing  £60,000,  to  accommodate  600  scholars ; 
and  connected  with  it  there  is  a  professor  whose  sole  duty 
it  is  to  travel  about  and  make  drawings  of  new  machines 
of  every  description,  belonging  to  all  industries,  which 
are  afterward  used  by  the  students  of  machine-construc- 
tion  and    engineering.      They  have  also  a  museum  for 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  IN  EUROPE.  201 

models  of  machinery ;  and,  in  addition  to  this,  the  gov- 
ernment sends  the  professors,  free  of  expense,  to  England 
or  any  other  country,  where  they  can  see  things  that  will 
be  of  use  to  them  in  their  work.  With  such  a  system 
there  is  no  wonder  that  Germany  possesses  a  large  num- 
ber both  of  skilled  and  scientific  workmen  and  masters, 
who  come  to  their  work  with  minds  thoroughly  trained 
to  appropriate  and  adopt  all  the  improvements  which  sci- 
ence can  suggest. 

Mr.  McLaren  also  found  in  Vienna  several  such  schools, 
one  of  which,  for  eight  hundred  scholars,  cost  between 
£60,000  and  £70,000,  and  he  finds  it  impossible  to  describe 
the  adnjirable  arrangements  and  course  of  instruction  at 
these  schools.  They  are,  as  in  Germany,  largely  support- 
ed by  the  State  and  the  municipality,  for  the  fees,  which  are 
three  or  four  pounds  a  year,  are  quite  insufficient  to  pay 
their  expenses.  In  Vienna,  the  schools  are  very  well  attend- 
ed at  night  by  workmen  and  apprentices  ;  for  there  is  a  law 
which  obliges  apprentices  to  attend  a  night-school  during 
part  of  their  apprenticeship.  They  learn  chemistry,  natu- 
ral philosophy,  geometry,  drawing,  modeling,  etc.  "We 
see  the  result  of  this  system  in  the  immense  manufacture 
of  beautiful  fancy  articles  of  every  description  which  is 
carried  on  in  that  city.  Besides  these,  there  are  at  least 
eighty  schools  in  Austria  for  industrial  training. 

In  respect  to  technical  education,  Switzerland  has  per- 
haps gone  as  far  as  any  of  her  neighbors.  Elementary 
instruction  is  compulsory  until  the  age  of  twelve,  and  is 
carried  on,  in  a  most  thorough  manner,  in  accordance  with 
the  principles  inculcated  by  Pestalozzi ;  and  which  are 
now  so  widely  imitated  in  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States.     At  the  age  of  twelve  the  boys  can  go  to  the 

10 


202    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

gymnasium  if  they  wisli  to  follow  a  literary  career,  and 
from  there  to  the  university.  But,  if  they  wish  to  have 
a  scientiii3  or  commercial  education,  they  can  go  to  the 
secondary  school,  then  to  the  industrial,  and,  at  last,  to 
the  polytechnic.  Of  course,  the  great  mass  of  children 
can  not  afiord  the  time  for  these  courses,  and  for  them  the 
state  provides  a  lower  sort  of  technical  school  where  for 
a  year  or  two  they  can  learn  the  sciences  best  suited  to 
the  trade  they  intend  to  follow. 

Perhaps  with  the  exception  of  Scotland,  the  intimate 
dependence  of  industrial  progress  upon  educational  prog- 
ress has  been  nowhere  more  apparent  than  in  this  small 
and  sterile  country.  Says  a  French  minister  in  Switzer- 
land :  "  From  among  these  sterile  rocks,  there  is  exported 
every  year  an  amount  of  products  sufficient  to  pay  for  all 
the  importations  made,  and  more  especially  for  the  two 
hundred  million  francs'  worth  of  goods  which  France 
alone  sells  to  that  people,  which  in  former  times  cultivated 
mercenary  warfare  as  its  sole  branch  of  industry  ;  and 
the  country  produces,  besides,  so  many  skillful  men  that 
in  every  commercial  city  of  the  world  a  Swiss  colony  is 
found  holding  the  first  rank ;  and  in  almost  every  great 
commercial  house  may  be  found  intelligent  clerks  who 
have  come  from  Basle,  Zurich,  or  Neufchatel." 

It  is  a  pleasing  coincidence  that  the  rugged  land  about 
which  these  gracious  statements  are  made  was  the  first  to 
give  an  example  of  industrial  teaching,  for,  going  as  far 
back  as  1775,  that  distinguished  reformer  in  methods  of 
teaching,  Johann  Heinrich  Pestalozzi,  himself  a  native 
of  Switzerland,  founded  at  I^Teuhof  a  model  industrial 
school  for  poor  children,  and  for  a  period  of  five  years 
devoted  his  energy,  his  time,  and  his  fortune  to  teaching 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  IN   EUROPE.  203 

and  training  fifty  boys  in  practical  knowledge  of  various 
industries.  That  was  the  beginning  not  only  of  the  nu- 
merous industrial  schools  now  in  the  world,  but  also  of 
that  profound  revolution  in  elementary  teaching  which 
substituted  the  science  of  things  for  their  symbols. 

The  importance  of  these  institutions  was  not  prac- 
tically recognized  in  France  until  long  after  they  had 
been  tested  in  other  countries.  The  first  impulse  they 
received  was  probably  owing  to  the  competition  growing 
out  of  the  Crystal  Palace  Exposition,  where  Great  Britain 
saw  herself  behind  other  nations  in  the  artistic  effects  of 
her  industry,  and  when  she  promptly  commenced  that 
energetic  career  of  reform  in  art-education  which  soon 
carried  her  work  to  the  front  rank  among  her  rivals  in 
the  subsequent  expositions.  The  leadership  of  France  in 
the  department  of  industrial  art  was  seriously  threatened, 
and  disregarding  for  the  moment  the  assumed  superior- 
ity of  her  artistic  traditions,  a  commission  was  appoint- 
ed which  was  for  a  long  time  engaged  in  ascertaining 
what  had  been  done  among  her  neighbors  for  the  tech- 
nical training  and  industrial  education  of  skilled  artisans. 
They  collected  a  mass  of  evidence  upon  the  subject,  and 
among  other  topics  made  a  strong  report  in  favor  of  ap- 
prenticeship-schools. This  was  followed  not  only  by 
important  changes  in  her  great  technical  institutions, 
but  several  lesser  schools  sprang  up  to  give  instruction  in 
the  manual  processes  of  art  to  her  workmen.  The  most 
important  of  these  institutions  have  been  classified  by  a 
recent  writer  under  three  heads,  viz.  : 

].  Schools  which  profess  to  give  a  trainmg  sufficient 
to  qualify  the  pupil  to  enter  a  factory  forthwith  as  a 
skilled  workman,  or  apprenticeship-schods  proper. 


204     EDUCATIOX  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

2.  Schools  which  prepare  pupils  for  subsequent  ap- 
prenticeship by  giving  them  some  manual  and  technical 
instruction  along  with  an  ordinary  schooling,  or  schools 
preparatory  to  apprenticeship. 

8.  Institutions  for  giving  technical  instruction  to  the 
apprentices  of  a  regular  factory  or  workshop,  or  to  the 
apprentices  of  some  particular  industry. 

All  these,  however  they  may  differ  in  form,  are  in- 
dustrial schools,  and  are  to  be  found  in  the  principal 
cities,  especially  Paris,  Havre,  Douai,  Chalons,  Lyons, 
Aix,  and  Besangon,  and  are  meant  to  train  boys  to  become 
good  workmen  in  wood,  in  building,  and  in  metal  trades ; 
i.  e.,  carpenters,  cabinet-makers,  pattern-makers,  smiths, 
fitters,  turners,  locksmiths,  watch-makers,  silversmiths, 
and  in  weaving  the  beautiful  fabrics  of  silk.  They  are 
principally  supported  by  their  respective  localities,  and 
in  most  of  them  instruction  is  free. 

Those  in  and  near  Paris  are  of  every  diversity  and 
character,  but  in  all  of  them  systematic  training  in  the 
handicrafts  is  deemed  an  essential  part  of  education ;  this 
is,  however,  accompanied  by  elementary  and  technical  in- 
struction throughout  the  whole  period  of  study.  Indeed, 
the  number  of  these  schools  in  France,  although  of  re- 
cent origin,  is  very  great ;  and  it  would  be  almost  impos- 
sible to  exemplify  them  separately,  on  account  of  their 
variety  and  different  forms  of  organization.  I  will,  how- 
ever, as  a  type  of  many  others  established  in  Paris,  men- 
tion that  of  the  ^cole  Municipal  cT Apprentis.  It  has 
often  been  described.  It  was  founded  at  the  expense  of 
the  city,  and  began  its  work  in  1872.  I  am  tempted  to 
give  an  account  of  it,  from  an  address  by  Professor 
Thompson,  who  examined  it  most  carefully  in  person, 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  IN  EUROPE.  205 

and  described  it  only  after  having  visited  it  seven  several 
times  for  that  purpose.     He  says  : 

The  ilcole  cf  Apprentis  of  Paris,  situated  in  the  Boule- 
vard de  la  Yillette,  is  a  school  of  similar  character,  but 
surpasses  the  Havre  school  in  size,  in  the  extent  of  its 
appliances,  and  in  the  general  superiority  of  its  organiza- 
tion. The  results  attained  by  this  school  are  truly  strik- 
ing. No  pupil  is  admitted  before  thirteen,  nor  without 
his  certificate  of  elementary  education.  The  course  of 
instruction  lasts  three  years,  about  half  the  day  being 
given  to  schooling,  and  half  to  practical  work  in  one  or 
other  of  the  workshops.  The  lads  who  go  out  at  sixteen 
or  seventeen,  are  able  at  once  to  rank  as  skilled  workmen, 
earning  a  wage  usually  only  obtained  by  those  who  have 
served  a  much  longer  apprenticeship  in  the  shops,  and  in 
some  cases  to  earn  higher  wages  than  the  average  skilled 
workman  who  is  of  age.  Happily,  the  promoters  of  this 
school  have  viewed  the  experiment  in  a  truly  scientific 
spirit,  and  the  exact  data  which  they  have  kept  upon  all 
statistical  matters  enable  a  precise  estimate  to  be  drawn 
of  the  signal  success  attained  by  the  school.  The  school 
was  founded  in  1873.  Of  seventy -four  apprentices  who  had 
gone  out  up  to  August,  1877,  sixty-nine  remained  faith- 
ful up  to  the  present  year  in  the  industry  taught  them  in 
the  school ;  and  their  average  rate  of  payment  on  leaving 
had  been  equivalent  to  eighteen  shillings  a  week,  reckon- 
ing fifty- six  hours  to  the  week's  work  ;  their  average  age 
on  leaving  being  seventeen  and  a  half.  Some  of  these, 
the  young  smiths  and  metal-turners,  earn  more  than  this, 
and  receive  from  twenty  up  to  thirty  and  even  thirty- 
two  shillings  a  week,  as  soon  as  they  go  out  to  work. 
Now,  this  school  is  one  where  there  is  a  graded  series  of 
manual  exercises,  where  those  exercises  are  undertaken 
solely  to  develop  the  pupils'  skill  without  reference  to 
their  commercial  profitableness,  where  no  work  may  be 
attempted  until  the  how  and  why  have  been  explained,  nor 
until  the  piece  of  work  has  been  made  the  subject  of  a 


206    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

proper  working  drawing.  It  is  a  school  where  regular, 
systematic,  technical,  and  scientific  principles  are  both  in- 
stilled in  class  and  insisted  upon  in  the  workshops.  Tlie 
instruction  is  not  left  to  uninstructed  workmen,  but  is  in 
the  hands  of  competent  teachers,  the  head  of  the  work- 
shop staff,  for  example,  being  himself  a  former  pupil  of 
one  of  the  ^coles  des  Arts  et  Metiers^  and  thoroughly 
imbued  with  the  scientific  spirit,  while  the  teacher  of 
physics  is  an  accomplished  assistant  in  the  Paris  Observa- 
tory. The  director,  M.  Miiller,  is  himself  animated  with 
the  spirit  of  the  institution,  and  conducts  excellent  classes 
in  descriptive  geometry  and  other  subjects.  M.  Bocquet, 
the  superintendent  of  the  workshops,  gives  a  course  of 
technological  lessons,  which,  beginning  with  descriptions 
of  tools  and  bits  of  machinery,  bolts,  nuts,  keys,  etc., 
leads  up  to  a  complete  knowledge  of  machinery  and  of 
machine  tools.  Drawing,  applied  physics,  applied  chem- 
istry, algebra,  arithmetic,  geometry,  and  even  industrial 
jurisprudence,  form  parts  of  the  curriculum  of  studies. 
To  visit  this  school  and  its  workshops — and  I  have  vis- 
ited it  seven  times,  and  spent  many  hours  within  its  pre- 
cincts— is  sufficient  to  dispel  the  notion  that  the  rational 
scientific  apprenticeship  advocated  here,  and  in  my 
pamphlet  on  "  Apprenticeship  Schools,"  is  an  impossible 
or  Utopian  idea,  incapable  of  existing  anywhere  except 
on  paper.  The  problem  is  solved  ;  and  it  is  now  simply 
a  question  of  cost  how  far  this  solution  can  be  applied. 
The  small  collection  of  studies  executed  by  the  pupils  of 
this  school,  which  I  am  able — thanks  to  the  kind  co-op- 
eration of  Dr.  Miiller  and  of  M.  Bocquet — to  exhibit  to- 
night, will  give  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  works  undertaken 
by  the  pupils. 

This  celebrated  school  was  again  visited  in  the  early 
part  of  the  year  1882  by  the  British  Royal  Commission, 
to  inquire  into  the  technical  education  of  the  industrial 
classes  on  the  continent,  and  in  their  report  they  say  that 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS   IN  EUROPE.  207 

the  number  attending  the  school  has  been  constantly 
increasing.  In  January,  1873,  it  had  only  seventeen 
scholars.  On  May  1st,  in  the  same  year,  the  number  was 
sixty-four ;  last  year  it  was  two  hundred  and  fifty,  of 
whom  one  hundred  and  seven  were  of  the  first  year, 
eighty-one  of  the  second,  and  sixty-two  of  the  third  year ; 
and  that  the  boys  who  were  in  the  school  last  year  in 
their  second  and  third  years  were  distributed  among  the 
two  trades  which  in  Paris  command  the  highest  wages ; 
and  that  the  boys  on  leaving  school,  with  very  few  ex- 
ceptions, earn  wages  varying  from  2s.  6d.  to  5^.  Gd.  per 
day. 

They  also  refer  to  the  circumstance  that  the  authori- 
ties of  the  city  of  Paris  have  deemed  the  experiment  of 
apprenticeship-teaching  in  the  school  of  La  Villette  sufii- 
ciently  successful  to  induce  them  to  decide  upon  the 
erection  of  a  number  of  other  similar  schools  in  various 
parts  of  the  metro]3olis,  and  that  they  have  voted  80,000 
francs  for  that  purpose. 

But  we  will  not  now  anticipate  what  we  intend  to 
say  in  a  subsequent  chapter  on  the  subject  of  this  report. 
The  French  industrial  schools  do  not,  as  in  Belgium, 
Austria,  and  Germany,  constitute  a  part  of  a  national 
system  of  education,  beginning  with  elementary  instruc- 
tion, and  afterward  admitting  the  pupils  at  the  proper 
age  into  the  industrial  schools,  and  from  thence  into  the 
technological  seminaries  and  the  universities.  On  the 
contrary,  they  either  are  supported  by  the  municipalities, 
like  those  of  Paris  and  Lyons,  or  by  business  firms  like 
MM.  Chaix  &  Cie;  or  else  they  are  made  self-supporting 
through  the  fees  and  board  of  the  pupils,  like  the  ^cole 
St.  Nicolas,  in  the  Rue  de  Yaugirard,  conducted  by  an 


208    EDUCATION  IX  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

educational  association  under  the  auspices  of  the  Christian 
Brothers.  The  schools  of  this  association,  including  the 
branches,  contain  upward  of  twentj-four  hundred  pupils. 
The  school  in  the  Rue  de  Yaugirard  alone  has  seven 
hundred  and  twenty  ordinary  scholars  and  two  hundred 
and  fifty  apprentices,  all  of  whom  are  boarders.  They 
pay  an  entrance  fee  of  about  ten  dollars,  and  about  one 
hundred  dollars  per  annum  for  their  board  and  tuition. 

The  apprentice -boys  receive  instruction  from  the 
Christian  Brothers  for  two  hours  daily,  which  comprises 
not  only  the  ordinary  school  lessons,  but  also  teaching  in 
drawing,  modeling,  and  other  appropriate  subjects.  The 
following  trades  are  taught :  Book-binding,  optical  and 
mathematical  instrument  making,  type-setting,  printing, 
working  and  chasing  in  bronze,  brass  instrument  making, 
gilding,  joiners'  work,  saddle-making,  wood-carving,  wood- 
engraving,  map-engraving,  and  engine-fitting.  The  ap- 
prentices appear  to  be  well  taught,  and  find  employment 
readily  after  they  have  left  the  workshops  at  wages,  it  is 
said,  varying  from  five  to  even  as  much  as  eight  francs 
per  day. 

An  instance  is  given  by  a  recent  tourist,  who  visited 
the  north  of  France  in  the  summer  of  1879,  of  how  a 
school  of  this  description  is  built  at  the  public  expense. 
He  visited  the  town  of  Roubaix,  which  is  very  largely 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  fine  worsted  goods.  Hear- 
ing that  a  weaving-school  had  been  opened  there,  he 
went  to  see  it,  and  found  a  small  but  well-furnished 
school.  The  town  council,  which  was  composed  of  the 
chief  manufacturers  of  the  place,  had  built  it  for  the 
benefit  of  the  trade,  and  at  the  expense  of  the  town. 
There  was  a  day  class  with  a  fee  of  £16  a  year,  but  in- 
struction in  the  evening  was  free. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  IN  EUROPE.  209 

This  is  probably  a  fair  example  of  how  schools  are 
built,  and,  although  it  may  not  be  the  best  way,  it  is  un- 
doubtedly a  good  way,  in  so  far  as  it  provides  much  better 
schools  than  could  be  built  by  private  subscription,  and 
much  better  than  when  the  whole  subject  is  left,  as  with 
us,  to  those  who  take  no  interest  in  it. 

The  Government  of  France  long  ago  founded  poly- 
technic schools,  schools  of  design,  and  of  drawing  and 
architecture,  great  engineering  and  military  schools, 
but  it  was  not  until  within  two  or  three  years  that  she 
established  industrial  schools  for  training  the  intelli- 
gence of  its  ingenious  people.  That  of  Limoges  has  al- 
ready been  mentioned,  and  there  is  the  watch-making 
school  at  Cluses,  to  take  the  place  of  the  municipal  school 
for  the  same  trade  at  Besangon,  which  has  also  been  de- 
scribed. To  the  republican  government  of  France  be- 
longs the  honor  of  accomplishing  more  for  the  industrial 
education  of  its  artisans  than  all  the  governments  that 
preceded  it.  It  has  recently  established  a  national  system 
for  the  diffusion  of  education  to  all  classes,  and  it  has 
displayed  its  devotion  to  the  interests  of  labor  by  decree- 
ing that  manual  training  shall  constitute  a  leading  feature 
in  the  programmes  of  instruction. 

The  relation  of  education  to  industry  has  been  no- 
where more  clearly  demonstrated  than  in  the  beautiful 
little  kingdom  of  Belgium.  Since  its  establishment  in 
184:8,  the  government  has  evinced  the  most  thorough 
regard  for  the  technical  training  of  the  industrial  classes. 
ISTuraerous  institutions  are  established  for  the  instruction 
of  artisans  in  designing,  and  in  all  the  arts  connected  with 
industry.  The  school  at  Ghent  has  programmes  of  study 
suitable  for  the  iron,  cotton,  hardware,  bronze,  and  crystal 


210    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

manufactures,  and  also  for  those  engaged  in  the  making 
of  chemicals,  armor,  mathematical  and  surgical  instru- 
ments, and  there  are  courses  of  mechanical  drawing, 
chemistry,  natural  philosophy,  and  engineering.  In  1881 
there  were  nine  hundred  scholars.  A  similar  school  at 
Tournay  is  equipped  with  a  workshop  "  for  the  construc- 
tion of  looms,  mechanical  lock-making,  and  for  iron  and 
copper  founding  and  molding."  There  is  also  one  at 
Verviers  devoted  to  weaving,  dyeing,  and  chemistry, 
while  in  each  of  the  cities  of  Antwerp,  Ostend,  Bruges, 
Liege,  Soignies,  Charleroi,  and  in  numerous  other  towns 
throughout  the  whole  country,  these  schools  are  established, 
in  each  case  suited  to  the  trade  of  the  place.  At  the  end 
of  the  year  1878  they  numbered  not  less  than  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty,  and  the  pupils  26,736.  They  were  all 
subsidized  by  the  government,  or  supported  by  their  re- 
spective municipalities. 

In  addition  to  these,  there  were  fifty  or  sixty  appren- 
ticeship-schools spread  over  as  many  communes,  adapted 
to  the  special  industry  of  weaving,  and  they  send  forth 
workmen  educated  intellectually  as  well  as  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  materials,  the  execution  of  patterns,  and  the 
comprehension  and  deciphering  of  designs  for  the  most 
beautiful  productions  of  the  loom,  and  in  all  the  econ- 
omies of  the  weaver's  art. 

We  may  learn  how  warmly  exercised  is  the  public 
mind  of  Great  Britain  on  the  subject  of  technical  educa- 
tion in  its  bearing  upon  the  manufactures  of  that  country 
from  a  recent  letter  (1881)  of  the  Lord  High  Chancellor 
making  an  appeal  for  increased  support  of  industrial  in- 
struction in  the  London  Institute.  He  is  chairman  of 
the  guilds  of  that  city,  and  he  did  not  deem  it  deroga- 


INDUSTRIAL   SCHOOLS   IN   EUROPE.  211 

torj  to  his  high  position  to  address  a  letter  to  the  city 
companies  asking  additional  means  to  enable  that  institu- 
tion to  insure  still  greater  proficiency  among  its  pupils. 
lie  states  that  technological  examinations  were  con- 
ducted in  no  less  than  thirty-two  different  industries 
that  had  been  held  up  to  that  time  in  eighty-five  dif- 
ferent localities.  These  examinations  have  been  very 
successful,  and  took  place  among  the  various  indus- 
trial populations  of  the  United  Kingdom.  He  also  de- 
clares that  it  can  no  longer  be  denied  that,  in  many 
instances,  foreign  manufacturers  are  competing  with 
those  of  Britain  to  an  extent  that  drives  English  prod- 
ucts from  continental  markets,  and  even  successfully 
rivals  them  in  the  United  Kingdom  itself;  and,  as  a 
remedy  for  this,  he  urges  that  provision  be  made  for 
imparting  a  complete  technical  education  in  all  parts  of 
the  country. 

The  same  views  were  very  strongly  expressed  by  Mr. 
Walter  S.  B.  McLaren  in  a  lecture  before  the  "Watts  Institu- 
tion, Edinburgh,  in  1879.  In  commencing,  he  said  :  "  At 
the  present  time,  when  trade  is  worse  than  it  has  been  for 
more  than  a  generation ;  when  capitalists  are  becoming 
poorer  instead  of  richer;  when  workmen  are  receiving 
low  wages,  and  are  pinched  for  the  necessities  of  life ; 
when  our  exports  are  going  down,  and  our  imports  are 
going  up ;  when  foreign  competition  presses  upon  us  as 
it  never  did  before  ;  when  foreign  workmen  can  rival  and 
excel  us  in  the  manufacture  of  some  articles  in  which  we 
formerly  held  an  undisputed  supremacy ;  and  when  for- 
eign masters  can  undersell  us  in  our  home  market,  the 
question  naturally  arises,  what  is  the  cause  of  all  this? 
In  my  opinion,  the  chief  answer  to  that  question  is  to  be 


212    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  KELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

found  in  the  condition  of  the  scliools  and  workshops  of 
the  Continent." 

The  apprenticeship-school  proper  had  not  at  that  time 
been  tried  in  Britain,  except,  perhap.s,  among  the  potteries 
of  Staffordshire,  or  to  teach  the  theory  and  art  of  weaving 
in  Yorkshire,  Bradford,  and  Glasgow.  And  to  show  how 
much  the  British  Government  is  interested  in  the  sub- 
ject, we  may  allude  to  the  royal  commissioners  appointed 
in  August,  1881,  on  technical  instraction,  already  men- 
tioned. The  commission  consisted  of  gentlemen  of  great 
experience  in  that  line  of  inquiry,  and  they  commenced 
their  work  in  the  most  practical  manner  by  visiting,  in 
the  first  instance,  the  countries  in  which  the  industrial 
school  had  already  passed  through  a  rigorous  ordeal,  and 
where  they  could  make  scientific  deductions  from  practi- 
cal results.  In  the  following  March  they  made  a  partial 
report  which  deals  exclusively  with  France,  and  is  devot- 
ed to  the  subjects  of  elementary  instruction  and  appren- 
ticeship-schools. The  report  is  well  calculated  to  make  a 
strong  and  favorable  impression,  more  especially  with 
regard  to  the  latter  as  a  method  of  training  skilled  arti- 
sans. They  point  out  the  ease  with  which  the  pupils  find 
employment  upon  leaving  school,  and  the  high  rate  of 
wages  they  receive,  and  that,  while  being  instructed  in 
the  various  trades,  they  also  receive  a  somewhat  advanced 
literary  and  scientific  education. 

Having  made  this  brief  and  limited  explanation  of  in- 
dustrial education  in  Europe,  two  questions  properly  arise  : 

1.  What  effect  has  it  exercised  upon  industry,  and 
what  benefit  has  it  conferred  upon  the  industrial  classes  ? 

2.  Are  such  educational  methods  suitable  for  the  Unit- 
ed States  ? 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  IN   EUROPE.  213 

In  regard  to  the  first  point,  it  might  be  sufficient  to 
answer  that  all  Europe  seems  to  be  in  favor  of  these 
schools.  iJ^ot  only  governments  and  municipalities  estab- 
lish them  as  a  systematic  branch  of  education,  but  men 
of  the  greatest  eminence,  and  those  who  are  the  most 
competent  to  form  a  correct  conclusion,  advise  an  exten- 
sion of  industrial  teacliing  for  both  sexes.  This  senti- 
ment is  as  strong  in  republican  France,  and  frugal  Switzer- 
land, and  industrious  Germany,  as  in  the  dominions  of 
the  Czar.  An  opinion  so  universal  could  only  have  its 
birth  in  an  experience  of  the  most  positive  and  bene- 
ficial results.  And  all  concur  in  attributing  to  this  in- 
struction the  introduction  of  new  local  industries  in  the 
centers  of  trade,  as  in  Paris,  Creuzot,  Limoges,  Ghent, 
Chemnitz,  and  other  places  on  the  Continent ;  and  to 
this  influence  is  also  due  the  general  improvement  of 
British  manufactures,  which  now  rival  in  taste  those  of 
her  neighbors,  and  has  done  so  much  to  restore  her 
commercial  supremacy  in  most  all  branches  of  industrial 
art.  We  have  mentioned  the  Royal  Commission  to  in- 
quire into  technical  education  in  foreign  countries.  In 
February,  1883,  they  made  a  preliminary  report,  already 
mentioned,  which  the  Bureau  of  Education  has  embod- 
ied in  a  circular  as  a  valuable  addition  to  the  current 
knowledge  upon  that  subject.  They  refer  exclusively  to 
France,  and  the  wonderful  activity  there  displayed  in 
all  that  relates  to  the  instruction  of  artisans.  Among 
their  conclusions  they  say :  "  We  think  it  will  be  evi- 
dent, from  the  account  which  we  have  given  of  the  new 
laws  enacted  and  proposed,  that  their  influence  on  the 
diffusion  of  ordinary  and  superior  primary  instruction, 
both  literary  and  technical,  can   scarcely  be   overrated. 


214    EDUCATIOX  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

It  is  clearly  tlie  aim  of  the  government  and  of  the  great 
cities  that  this  superior  instruction  shall  be  placed  as  ful- 
ly as  possible  within  the  reach  of  the  working-men.  The 
instruction  in  the  use  of  tools  during  the  elementary  school 
age,  besides  being  of  service  to  every  child,  whether  des- 
tined to  become  a  mechanic  or  not,  will  tend,  in  the  for- 
mer case,  to  facilitate  the  learning  of  a  trade,  though  it 
may  not  actually  shorten  the  necessary  period  of  appren- 
ticeship. We  should  be  glad  to  see  this  kind  of  manual 
instruction  introduced  into  some  of  our  own  elementary 
schools."  * 

By  a  decree  of  the  French  Government,  in  March, 
1880,  a  Commission  of  Inspection  was  appointed  in  con- 
nection with  the  school  of  the  Boulevard  de  la  Yillette, 
founded  by  the  city  of  Paris,  and  which  has  been  de- 
scribed in  this  chapter.  A.  Corbon,  senator,  makes  the 
report,  and  points  out  some  errors  in  making  the  pro- 
gramme of  ordinary  instruction  too  advanced  for  the 
attainments  of  the  scholars,  but  speaks  well  of  the  theo- 
retical and  practical  instruction  as  regards  technical  teach- 
ing, and  expresses  confidence  that  it  will  go  on  improving, 
and  concludes  as  follows :  "  The  commission  has  there- 
fore every  confidence  that  the  problem  will  be  satisfac- 
torily solved,  and  that  the  first  school  for  apprentices, 
founded  by  the  Yille  de  Paris,  will  be  an  excellent  model 

*  In  August,  1881,  a  commission  consisting  of  Bernhard  Samuelson, 
F.  R.  S. ;  Henry  Enfield  Roscoe,  LL.  D.,  F.  R.  S. ;  Philip  Magnus,  B.  A.,  B.  Sc. ; 
Jolm  Slagg,  Swire  Smith,  and  William  Woodall,  was  appointed  by  Queen 
Victoria  to  inquire  into  the  instruction  of  the  industrial  classes  of  certain 
foreign  countries  in  technical  and  other  subjects,  for  the  purpose  of  com- 
parison with  that  of  the  corresponding  classes  in  Great  Britain ;  and  into 
the  influence  of  such  instruction  on  manufacturing  and  other  industries  in 
their  own  and  forciim  countries. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  IN   EUROPE.  215 

for  imitation."  *  And  H.  Tolain,  senator,  from  the  siib- 
commission  of  the  same  body  appointed  to  examine  into 
the  question  of  apprenticeship-schools,  declares  that  they 
"  unanimously  recognized  the  necessity  for  establishing 
these  useful  institutions." 

These  commissions  were  both  formed  of  gentlemen 
possessed  of  various  attainments,  and  whose  experience 
and  special  means  for  coming  to  a  correct  judgment  can- 
not be  denied.  And  when  they  finish  the  collection  of 
data  bearing  upon  the  subject  of  their  inquiry,  their  con- 
clusions as  to  the  value  of  these  institutions  will  be  re- 
ceived by  us,  at  least,  with  respect,  if  not  confidence. 
Indeed,  the  time  for  pleading  the  cause  of  technical  in- 
struction is  past.  The  division  of  labor,  the  invention 
of  machines,  and  the  decay  of  apprenticeship,  make  it 
the  peculiar  necessity  of  the  age,  and  it  is,  therefore, 
one  of  the  conditions  of  industry  which  it  is  impossible 
to  change.  No  wonder,  then,  that  we  witness  the  two 
greatest  industri„l  nations  on  the  globe  employing  such 
vast  means  on  account  of  manual  instruction  as  a  practical 
necessity  of  the  first  order ;  nor  need  we  be  surprised 
that  it  is  now  regarded  as  the  duty  of  the  state  and  the 
right  of  the  artisan,  from  the  facts  of  their  industrial  life. 

The  beneficial  effect  of  technical  instruction  upon  the 
condition  of  the  industrial  classes  is  very  forcibly  stated 
in  the  replies  of  the  British  ministers  abroad  to  inquiries 

*  The  Commission  is  composed  of  Messieurs  Nadaud,  deputy  (president) ; 
Greard,  vice-rector  of  the  university  ;  Tolain,  senator  ;  Metivier  and  Tho- 
rel,  municipal  councillors ;  De  Montmahou,  inspector  general  of  public 
instruction ;  Clerc,  inspector  of  elementary  education ;  Moutard,  professor 
at  the  School  of  Mines ;  Carre,  encrineer ;  Bourdin,  late  engineer  delegate, 
secretary  ;  and  Corbon,  senator,  reporter. 


216    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

addressed  to  them  by  Lord  Stanley  for  information  on  this 
subject.  From  the  selections  of  Mr.  Stetson  we  give  the 
answer  of  Mr.  Lowther,  from  Berlin,  who  says : 

The  advantage  obtained  is  that  there  has  been  a  very 
good  class  of  workmen  established  which  thiiiks,  and  has 
a  knowledge  of  the  things  they  are  required  to  make,  and 
consequently  comprehends  more  easily.  The  class  of 
workmen  has  also  become  better  mannered,  more  civilized 
and  refined.  The  middle  class  of  trades-people  has  been 
able  to  raise  the  profession  ;  it  has  been  able  to  carry  into 
e£Fect  all  repairs  in  factories,  and  to  arrange  and  direct 
them  in  such  a  way  that  they  were  cared  for  in  the  most 
convenient  manner.  It  has  been  able  to  introduce  new 
methods  in  manufactures.  The  high  education  of  Ger- 
man engineers  has  caused  the  profession  to  be  very  much 
sought  after  on  account  of  its  extensive  and  fundamental 
knowledge. 

By  means  of  all  these  circumstances,  Prussian  estab- 
lishments, like  Prussian  industry,  have  been  able  to  raise 
themselves.  .  .  .  The  workmen  feel  the  influence  of 
the  knowledge  they  have  acquired,  and  are  anxious  to  at- 
tend the  lectures  at  their  unions  which  conduce  to  show 
the  workmen  the  importance  of  theoretical  knowledge. 

Lord  Howard  de  Walden,  in  his  reply,  says  that  the 
benefits  which  these  institutions  have  conferred  and  are 
conferring  upon  the  working  population  of  Flanders,  as 
regards  their  material  prosperity,  and  in  opening  a  career 
of  remunerative  labor  to  all  who  are  willing  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  opportunity  placed  within  their  reach, 
while  teaching  them,  at  the  same  time,  early  habits  of 
discipline  and  order,  are  incontestable.  With  his  reply 
he  sent  the  report  of  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  on  in- 
dustrial education  in  Belgium.  Of  the  good  influence  of 
the  school  at  Soignies,  the  minister  says :    "  The  school 


BENEFICIAL   EFFECT   UPON   WORKING   CLASSES.        217 

has  a  good  influence  upon  the  working  class  and  upon 
the  industry  of  the  town  of  Soignies  and  the  neighbor- 
hood. It  provides  this  industry  with  efficient  powers 
and  skilled  workmen,  who  work  the  stone  with  taste,  and 
execute  the  most  complicated  work,  and,  above  all,  re- 
markable carvings,  which  the  owners  of  the  quarries 
could  hardly  undertake  before,  or  which  they  were 
obliged  to  have  executed  elsewhere.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  provides  the  pupils  with  knowledge  which  enables 
them  to  improve  their  conditions  considerably.  It  also 
acts  favorably  on  their  morality,  giving  them  a  taste  for 
study,  and  ideas  of  order  and  providence  which  contrib- 
ute to  the  spread  of  well-being  and  competency  in  fami- 
lies." 

These  communications  were  made  as  early  as  1867, 
and  since  then  the  schools  have  greatly  increased,  and  the 
good  influence  of  art  and  manual  instruction  have  been 
extended  to  a  great  variety  of  work  which  employs  skilled 
labor.  M.  Haverez,  who  is  at  the  head  of  the  school  at 
Yerviers,  describes  the  extraordinary  results  of  the  educa- 
tion at  that  place,  and  in  his  speech  he  gives  an  account  of 
a  school  founded  at  Lille,  designed  for  firemen  and  stokers, 
and  of  this  one  he  says : 

The  young  workmen  received  all  the  knowledge  for 
heating  boilers  well,  and  for  keeping  them  in  good  condi- 
tion and  safety.  Those  engaged  in  the  working  of  mines 
soon  perceived  that  the  workmen  who  came  from  this 
school  heated  the  boilers  better  and  with  less  coal  than 
did  other  workmen,  and  that  they  escaped  many  accidents 
and  repairs  and  stoppage  of  machinery.  These  firemen 
were  therefore  much  sought  after,  and  everywliere  they 
were,  very  properly,  able  to  demand  higher  wages,  because 
their  work  was  of  more  value  to  their  employers.  Already 


218    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

in  Charleroi,  tlie  situations  of  foremen  in  collieries,  fur- 
naces, and  mechanics'  shops,  are  only  given  to  those  over- 
seers who  have  obtained  a  diploma  of  the  professional 
school  of  Charleroi. 

Indeed,  the  advantages  conferred  by  this  instruction 
upon  the  workmen  are  corroborated  by  the  strongest  tes- 
timony and  in  many  ways.  The  pupils  find  employment 
at  good  wages,  their  labor  brings  more  than  that  of  igno- 
rant workmen ;  they  are  more  likely  to  obtain  preferment, 
for  they  are  more  intelligent  and  more  useful ;  they  are 
better  fed,  better  clothed,  better  housed,  and  better  be- 
haved ;  and  their  condition,  morally  and  socially,  is  im- 
proved in  a  very  remarkable  degree. 

As  to  the  second  point,  whether  this  system  of  in- 
struction is  adapted  to  the  needs  and  tastes  of  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  that  presents  a  question  so  far  from 
the  line  of  study  and  observation  of  the  author,  that  per- 
haps little  account  can  be  made  of  his  opinion.  He,  how- 
ever, can  appeal  on  this  subject  with  great  confidence  to 
the  views  generally  entertained  and  expressed  by  the  most 
distinguished  educators  in  this  country,  for  they  all  agree 
that  we  ought  to  have  some  plan  of  industrial  training. 
The  only  question  which  appears  to  divide  them,  or  to 
divide  others,  is  whether  it  shall  be  the  business  of  the 
public  school  to  provide  it.  Dr.  E.  E.  White,  who  argues 
against  its  introduction  into  public  education,  very  forci- 
bly expressed  his  opinion  to  be  for  special  schools  to  pro- 
mote important  industries  or  to  meet  the  wants  of  classes, 
and  that  the  State  has  the  right  to  supplement  the  public 
school  by  special  schools  for  technical  training ;  and  in 
his  speech  on  industrial  education  before  the  American 
Institute,  he  said  :  "  But,  of  course,  I  could  take  no  ex- 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  IN  UNITED   STATES.         219 

ception  to  all  that  maj  be  said  in  favor  of  technical  and 
industrial  schools  standing  beside  the  public  schools  and 
carrying  on  this  work  of  education — giving  to  our  youth 
technical  and  special  training  for  industrial  pursuits. 
That  is  what  we  have  got  to  do  in  this  country.  We 
must  have  a  system  of  technical  training,  and  the  question 
is,  shall  we  put  a  system  into  the  public  schools,  as  they 
are  now  organized  ? "  and  he  indicated  an  oj^inion  very 
strongly  against  blending  the  two  systems. 

On  the  same  occasion,  John  S.  Clarke,  of  Boston,  read 
an  exceedingly  well  prepared  and  philosophical  paper  on 
the  same  subject,  in  which  he  traces  a  theory  of  prac- 
tical education  for  the  public  schools,  in  the  use  of  hand- 
tools  in  wood  and  metals,  not  for  application  in  any  par- 
ticular trade  or  trades,  but  for  developing  skill  of  hand  in 
the  fundamental  manipulations  connected  with  the  indus- 
trial arts,  and  also  as  a  means  of  mental  development ;  and 
he  adds  :  "  Secondary  schools  must  provide  a  way  to  give 
broader  instruction  in  experimental  and  theoretical  sci- 
ence ;  and,  also,  in  a  generalized  form,  instruction  in  man- 
ual training,  including  the  use  of  hand  and  machine  tools, 
not  in  its  application  to  any  special  trade  or  trades,  nor  as 
a  training  divorced  from  general  intellectual  culture,  but 
as  an  essential  part  of  a  sound  general  education." 

We  may  remark  that  these  views  derive  additional 
strength  from  the  almost  uniform  testimony  of  business 
and  commercial  authorities.  The  scientific  journals,  the 
trade  magazines,  and  the  daily  press,  all  unite  in  recog- 
nizing the  necessity  of  training  men  and  women  to  be- 
come intelligent  masters  of  the  principles  upon  which  the 
useful  arts  depend,  and  the  practice  by  which  they  are 
made  profitable.     The  reconstruction  of  our  industries, 


220    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

which  has  been  going  on  for  several  years,  and  which  is 
still  progressing  on  a  scale  of  unexampled  magnitude, 
has  rendered  the  necessity  of  doing  this  either  a  duty 
of  the  public,  or  of  the  liberality  of  individuals.  Indeed, 
the  new  system  has  already  made  some  progress,  and  is  in 
a  fair  way  of  making  more,  as  we  shall  show  hereafter. 
"We  may,  therefore,  conclude  that  the  relation  of  educa- 
tion to  industry,  which  is  simply  to  put  thought  into  the 
hand  of  labor,  is  one  of  the  conditions  upon  which  our 
prosperity  depends. 


CHAPTER  XIL 

Education  applied  to  industry  in  the  United  States — Impulse  given  to  it — 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  in  New  York — Mr.  Auchmuty's  contribu- 
tion—  Instruction  in  trades,  common  and  decorative  —  To  turn  out 
trained  mechanics — New  York  trade  schools — Art  school  at  Trenton, 
New  Jersey — The  youth  at  the  potteries — Lasell  Seminary — A  modi- 
fied industrial  school — Dwight  School,  Boston — Sewing-classes  for  girls 
in  Boston  schools — Excellent  work  by  them — Art  needle-work  an 
industry — For  house  decoration — On  ladies  dresses — Code  in  England 
— Schools  for  sewing  in  Switzerland — Germany — Bavaria — Drawing  in 
embroidery — Dorchester  industrial  school — Public  schools  at  Montclair, 
New  Jersey — Industrial  department — The  order  of  exercises — Indus- 
trial art-school  in  Philadelphia — Mr.  Leland's  system  of  teaching  the 
minor  arts — Their  great  variety — Outlay  for  such  a  school — Practical 
results — It  revives  the  popular  arts — Useful  to  all — The  Spring  Garden 
Institute  —  Mechanical  handiwork — Course  of  instruction — Results — 
Technological  and  industrial  training  schools — At  Worcester  and  St. 
Louis  —  Industrial  home  school  at  West  Washington,  District  of 
Columbia — Cincinnati  School  of  Design — A  school  of  industrial  art — 
New  mode  of  industrial  education  required — Reasons  for  the  change — 
Subdivision  of  labor — The  general  artisan — Great  advantage  of  — 
Manual  and  technical  instruction  the  practical  want — Appeal  to  the 
wealthy. 

And  now  let  ns  return  to  our  native  industries. 
Education,  as  applied  to  industry,  is  of  but  recent  origin, 
and  has  not  yet  made  much  advance  in  the  United  States ; 
and  as  we  are  greatly  behind  other  countries  in  this  ten- 
dency, we  cannot  much  longer  omit  some  definite  move- 
ment for  planting  the  germs  of  what  will  become  a  com- 


222    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

preliensive  system  of  industrial  science.  Xo  people  can 
come  down,  or  up,  as  the  case  may  be,  to  the  practical 
realities  of  life  more  directly  than  Americans,  and  when 
the  time  arrives  they  adopt  means  quite  adequate  to  the 
necessities  of  the  times.  They  are  liberal  patrons  of  art- 
work, and  this  is  witnessed  by  the  immense  sums  they 
pay  for  it.  Our  manufacturers  realize  the  great  change 
which  has  taken  place  since  the  Centennial  Exhibition  of 
1876,  and  are  seeking  assiduously,  at  home  and  abroad, 
for  skilled  workmen,  and  for  the  means  of  giving  beauti- 
ful forms  to  useful  articles.  This  impulse  has  given  rise 
undoubtedly  to  some  isolated  efforts  at  manual  training, 
which  inspire  the  hope  that  our  peculiar  necessities  are 
appreciated  at  home,  and  that  some  extended  system  will 
be  adopted  to  encourage  and  foster  industrial  education. 

Amons:  the  movements  in  this  direction  are  the  efforts 
of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  According  to  a  statement  in  the  ^New  York 
"Times,"  that  institution  opened  classes  for  instruction 
in  designing  upon  wood  and  metal.  The  trustees  had  no 
means  to  carry  this  experiment  out,  when  a  liberal  prop- 
osition was  made  to  them  by  Mr.  E.  T.  Auchrnuty,  to 
erect  suitable  buildings  for  this  purpose,  and  to  open 
schools  for  some  of  the  decorative  arts,  such  as  house- 
painting,  frescoing,  and  wood-carving ;  pledging  himself 
to  pay  during  three  years  any  deficiency  which  might 
exist  between  the  receipts  and  expenses.  We  are  also 
informed  that  his  plan  did  not  contemplate  entirely  free 
schools,  on  the  ground  that  the  apprentices  would  value 
more  what  they  paid  for,  and  that  by  a  fee,  say  of  $100 
a  year,  the  schools  could  be  made,  in  time,  self-support- 
ing.    They  are  intended  to  do  thorough  work,  and  to 


INDUSTRIAL   EDUCATION   IN   UNITED   STATES.  223 

train  thorough  practical  mechanics  in  artistic  trades,  who 
will  earn  their  living  by  them.  And  the  apprentices 
trained  in  these  schools  ought  to  be  workmen  capable  of 
nice  design  and  delicate  workmanship.  The  courses  of 
instruction  comprise  a  general  course  for  beginners,  and 
special  courses  for  mechanics  who  may  desire  to  improve 
themselves  in  particular  branches  of  their  trade.  Thus, 
in  the  school  of  plain  and  decorative  painting,  besides 
the  general  course,  there  will  be  special  courses  in  mix- 
ing colors,  in  fresco-painting,  in  the  combination  of  colors 
in  panel-painting,  and  in  the  polishing  and  preparation 
of  hard  wood.  All  these,  and  similar  decorative  trades, 
are  in  enormous  demand  in  New  York,  and  well-trained 
young  men  in  them  find  remunerative  business  without 
any  trouble.  The  graduates  of  these  schools  would  soon, 
no  doubt,  equal  the  foreign  craftsmen  who  are  imported 
to  do  the  best  work ;  and  thus  there  would  be  a  natural 
and  local  supply  of  skilled  workmen  wdiich,  with  other 
facilities,  might  soon  make  jS^ew  York  the  equal  of  Paris, 
Lyons,  and  other  continental  cities,  in  decorative  arts. 
In  common  trades,  such  as  plumbing,  painting,  and  build- 
ing, it  is  notorious  that  we  have  few  apprentices,  and 
few  skilled  laborers  growing  up.  Most  of  the  mechanics 
have  learned  their  trades  in  daily  labor.  'No  one  can 
fail  to  see  the  effect  in  imperfect  work.  These  industrial 
schools  will  tend  to  bring  up  a  class  of  thoroughly  trained 
mechanics,  who  will  lead  their  trades,  and  earn  the  high- 
est wages ;  and  this,  again,  by  a  natural  law,  will  stimu- 
late the  foundation  of  more  such  schools. 

The  generous  founder  of  the  schools  just  mentioned, 
prompted  no  doubt  by  these  considerations,  is  already 
erecting   the  buildings  for  them  on   First  Avenue  and 


224    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

Sixty-seventh  Street,  at  an  expense  of  several  thousand 
dollars.  It  is  hoped  that  there  are  other  liberal  citizens 
in  New  York  who  are  willing  to  endow  such  schools  in 
perpetuity.  This  experiment  of  the  Museum  of  Art  is  a 
sound  one,  and  miglit  well  be  the  beginning  of  a  great 
and  comprehensive  scheme. 

We  learn  from  the  Xew  York  Herald,  of  August 
31,  1881,  that  the  school  commenced  in  the  fall  of  1880, 
and  has  now  been  in  active  operation  over  one  year.  It 
drew  a  large  attendance  from  the  first,  there  being  one 
hundred  and  forty-eight  pupils,  who  have  received  practi- 
cal instruction  in  drawing  and  design,  decoration  in  dis- 
temper, modeling  and  carving,  carriage -draughting,  and 
plumbing,  in  day  and  evening  classes.  Lectures  were 
given  by  specialists  in  the  trades  and  arts,  and  a  prime 
feature  was  made  of  shop  instruction  to  foremen  and 
young  men  employed  in  the  city. 

The  school  was  closed  in  the  spring  of  1881,  and  a 
wealthy  gentleman  has  given  to  the  same  institution 
S50,000  to  be  devoted  to  the  advancement  of  art-education. 
The  art  classes  have  therefore  been  withdrawn  from  this 
building  and  established  elsewhere  on  an  independent 
basis,  and  the  artisan  classes  remain  and  are  known  as  the 
]^ew  York  Trade  Schools.  The  courses  of  instruction  for 
these  in  the  year  1881-'82  will  embrace  many  new  feat- 
ures. There  is  a  large  and  well-appointed  workshop, 
where  instruction  will  be  given  in  the  manual  branches 
of  the  trades.  Attached  to  this  workshop  is  a  collection 
of  articles  and  materials  used  in  plumbing.  Dr.  Chandler, 
of  the  Board  of  Health,  and  Professor  Egleston,  of  the 
School  of  Mines  of  Columbia  College,  will  take  part  in 
the  series  of  lectures  to  be  given  to  the  classes. 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  IN  UNITED    STATES.         225 

An  art-school  has  been  founded  by  the  manufacturers 
of  pottery  at  Trenton,  I^ew  Jersey,  to  be  attended  by  pot- 
ters' apprentices.  There  are  few  artistic  trades  in  this 
country  where  more  could  be  done  if  there  were  a  suffi- 
cient supply  of  skilled  labor.  Why  should  we  import 
such  immense  quantities  of  these  goods,  and  employ  so 
many  English  and  French  workers  in  this  beautiful  in- 
dustry, when  we  have  such  abundance  of  means  in  our 
own  country  for  the  business,  both  in  excellent  clays  and 
generally  intelligent  labor,  except  for  the  want  of  special 
training  in  the  workmen  ? 

We  are  not  informed  as  to  the  course  of  study  pre- 
scribed in  the  Trenton  school ;  but  at  last  accounts  it  was 
an  assured  success.  The  youth  of  the  potteries  have 
taken  to  it  in  a  manner  that  has  surjDrised  the  more  san- 
guine expectations  of  its  founders,  and  they  study  as  if 
their  future  advancement  in  the  business  depended  en- 
tirely upon  their  efforts  in  the  art-school.  The  school 
will  undoubtedly  be  extended,  and  classes  added  for  the 
best  pupils. 

A  very  favorable  account  is  given  by  a  correspondent 
in  the  Washington  Republic  of  an  educative  experiment 
at  Lasell  Seminary,  in  Auburndale,  a  small  town  some 
ten  miles  from  the  city  of  Boston.  From  an  experiment, 
however,  the  school  seems  to  have  advanced  to  an  estab- 
lished and  permanent  method,  which  is  determining  in 
its  influence.  This  plan  is  a  modification  of  industrial 
instruction  introduced  on  the  same  footing  with  tech- 
nical study.  The  manual  labor  deiDartment  of  a  girls' 
school  has  had,  and  in  many  cases  will  have,  its  place, 
but  to  produce  good  results  it  requires  the  necessities  to 

meet,  and  also  exceptional  girls,  both   in   physical  and 
U 


226    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

mental  strength,  to  receive  its  benefits.  At  Lasell,  classes 
are  taught  cooking  and  sewing,  just  as  they  are  taught 
mathematics  or  music,  as  an  essential  part  of  a  woman's 
education.  The  cooking  lessons  are  under  Miss  Parton's 
tuition,  and  they  are  treated  with  all  the  deferential  con- 
sideration due  to  solid  geometry  or  metaphysics.  It 
dates  back  to  1^57,  when  it  was  established  by  Professor 
Edward  Lasell,  of  Williams  College,  a  pupil  of  the  well- 
known  Dr.  West,  of  Brooklyn.  Its  Principal  is  Pro- 
fessor C.  C.  Bragdon,  a  graduate  of  the  Northwestern 
University  of  Illinois,  a  man  whose  intellect  is  eminently 
alive  to  genuine  advancement  and  practical  progress. 
The  seminary  is  beautifully  situated  in  large,  shaded 
grounds,  with  pure  air,  and  a  sunny  aspect  that  charms 
the  visitor  like  magic,  and  is  fitted  up  with  steam  heat- 
ing and  all  modern  improvements.  Professor  Bragdon's 
ideal  of  a  girl's  education  is  to  make  it  a  development 
and  a  discipline  that  will  enable  her  to  take  hold  of  life 
for  herself,  to  come  out  with  implements  by  which  she 
may  be  independent,  self-supporting  if  necessary,  and 
which  will  fit  her  to  create  a  home.  "  But  does  not  cook- 
ing and  dressmaking  interfere  with  studies?"  asks  some 
one.  No  more  than  studies  interfere  with  each  other. 
Greek  is  not  studied  less  because  of  German,  nor  does 
mathematics  suffer  from  a  knowledge  of  history.  For 
the  majority  of  women  the  interests  of  home  are  to  be 
the  predominant  ones  of  life,  and  w^iatever  fits  her  for 
that  gives  her  a  vantage  ground.  If  it  can  be  inspired 
with  a  spirit,  a  purpose,  it  is  thus  redeemed  from  drudg- 
ery. Our  American  girls  are  mostly  to  be  housekeepers, 
happy  wives  and  mothers,  and  a  professional  training  in 
domestic  arts,  combined  with  the  fine  advantages  offered 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.    227 

in  technical  study,  render  Lasell  Seminary  an  ideal  school 
for  girls.  It  is  a  genuine  home-school — one  whose  influ- 
ences are  all  refined,  pure,  and  elevating. 

The  "  Journal  of  Education  "  has  the  following  notice 
of  one  of  the  schools  in  Boston  : 

The  friends  of  '*  industrial  education  "  will  be  pleased 
with  the  report  of  the  master  of  the  Dwight  School  con- 
cerning an  experiment  which  has  been  going  on  in  his 
building  during  the  past  year.  It  is  not  very  long,  and 
was  given  to  the  board  last  month.  This  experiment  in 
industrial  or  manual  work  was  begun  last  January  with  a 
class  of  eighteen  pupils.  They  were  selected  from  the 
graduating  class,  and  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  classes. 
School  discipline  was  maintained,  and  each  boy  was 
marked  on  the  work  done.  The  report  says :  "  From 
the  beginning  to  the  close,  the  school  went  on  with  un- 
broken and  successful  regularity.  The  teacher  was 
promptly  on  hand,  the  order  was  good,  the  pupils  inter- 
ested. It  was  delightful  to  see  the  eager  desire  mani- 
fested everywhere  in  the  room  to  do  the  day's  work  well. 
There  was  no  absence,  no  tardiness.  On  one  occasion  a 
count  was  made,  and  seventeen  out  of  eighteen  pupils 
were  found  at  work  at  one  o'clock,  when  two  was  the 
hour  for  beginning."  In  its  effects  upon  the  standing  of 
the  boys  in  the  grades  from  which  they  were  taken,  the 
master  says  :  "  Here  and  there  a  complaint  was  made  by 
the  teacher  of  some  second-class  boy,  that  he  was  not  do- 
ing his  work  well  in  his  own  room  ;  but  the  pupil,  in 
every  case,  was  so  anxious  to  remain  in  the  '  carpenter's 
class '  that  a  word  or  two  of  warning  was  sufficient  to 
bring  his  performance  up  to  standard  again.  As  far  as 
the  first  class  is  concerned,  no  boy  fell  below  the  required 
per  cent  for  graduation,  and  each  boy  received  his 
diploma." 

It  is  also  encouraging  to  know  that  classes  of  the 
girls  attending  the  public  schools  in  Boston  are  taught  in 


228    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

sewing  as  a  part  of  their  education.  All  who  are  inter- 
ested in  the  education  of  girls  have  urged  the  necessity 
of  teaching  them  this  branch  of  industry,  and  the  ex- 
periment has  been  attended  with  most  satisfactory  re- 
sults. Both  parents  and  teachers  give  positive  proofs 
that  the  time  and  attention  taken  from  other  studies  have 
been  most  profitably  devoted  to  these  practical  lessons. 
The  children  are  pleased  with  the  work,  and  much  of  it 
is  beautifully  done.  They  cut  garments  and  make  dresses 
with  skill  and  talent,  and  the  little  girls  soon  excel  their 
mothers  in  the  use  of  the  needle.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that 
the  latter  take  as  much  interest  usuall}'  in  it  as  the  chil- 
dren. A  teacher  remarked  to  a  visitor  that  he  knew 
parents  who  would  be  willing  to  endure  much  before 
they  would  permit  their  children  to  leave  school  for  that 
reason  alone.  He  also  added  that  many  of  them  earned 
their  living  by  the  use  of  the  needle,  and  the  number 
had  not  been  small  of  those  who  had  come  back  after 
graduation  and  told  of  remunerative  positions  they  had 
secured  through  the  knowledge  of  sewing  they  had  ob- 
tained at  school. 

In  this  connection  we  may  say  that  an  advance  is  also 
observable  in  art-needlework,  which  is  rapidly  developing 
into  an  industry.  It  appears  that  Mrs.  Booth,  the  editor 
of  Harper's  Bazaar,  has  recognized  the  wide-spread  desire 
for  information  in  this  almost  forgotten  art,  and  she  has 
made  a  special  arrangement  with  the  South  Kensington 
Museum  by  which  the  designs  from  that  art-school  are 
to  be  published  in  that  journal.  The  Bazaar  also  pub- 
lishes designs  furnished  by  the  Vienna  and  Nuremberg 
schools  of  art-needlework. 

The  magnificent  style  of  decorating  the  houses  of  the 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.    229 

wealthy  has  taken  the  direction  of  art-needlework  em- 
broidery. The  designs  are  often  reproduced  from  old 
French  and  Italian  tapestries,  and  many  of  them  are 
made  from  nature ;  and  plants,  flowers,  and  leaves  are 
constructed  by  conventional  treatment  into  original  and 
highly  decorative  designs.  Abroad,  the  work  of  the 
Kensington  and  other  schools  has  gained  great  celebrity, 
and  the  finest  designs  by  Morris,  Crane,  Burne  Jones, 
and  other  famous  ornamentists  have  been  wrought  out 
on  rich  fabrics  by  ladies  who  found  therein  an  agreeable 
and  needed  employment. 

"With  us  the  groundwork  is  velvet.  Oriental  stuffs, 
brocaded  silk,  lace,  and  other  goods  in  vivid  colors  and 
changing  hues.  Artistic  portieres^  rich  draperies  for 
cabinets  and  windows,  and  for  the  decoration  of  walls 
and  furniture,  are  embroidered  with  branches  of  trees 
and  flowers,  having  borders  upon  which  are  worked  fig- 
ures of  various  kinds  in  gold  and  silver  thread ;  muslin 
curtains  embroidered  with  gold  to  shade  the  deep  bay- 
windows  ;  exquisite  pale  satin  with  roses,  and  sometimes 
the  form  of  a  sea-nymph  half -risen  from  the  water  be- 
neath the  changing  blue  of  the  sky,  and  other  ornaments 
in  the  most  delicate  colors  to  imitate  the  precious  stones ; 
all  of  which  harmonize  with  walls  upon  which  are  sus- 
pended rare  and  costly  paintings,  and  Limoges  enamels 
of  wonderful  beauty  which  adorn  the  drawing-rooms  and 
boudoirs  of  the  wealthy  in  our  cities.  Any  design  which 
will  produce  decorative  effect  is  now  used  in  embroid- 
ery. 

Perhaps  the  most  ingenious  way  in  which  this  art  is 
used  is  on  ladies'  dresses,  cuffs,  collars,  and  even  stock- 
ings, which  are  often  decorated  with  gold   and   silver 


230    EDTJCATIOX  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

spangles,  and  clusters  of  berries  wliich  shine  and  sparkle 
between  the  instep  and  the  short  costumes  now  in  fash- 
ion. 

Among  the  employments  which  belong  almost  exclu- 
sively to  women  this  is  perhaps  the  most  fascinating,  and 
it  is  one  which  can  never  be  superseded  by  the  sewing- 
machine.  Its  votaries  are  found  among  all  classes ;  those 
w4io  are  well  off  being  as  eager  in  this  lady-like  art  as  are 
their  more  unfortunate  sisters. 

The  proposed  revision  of  the  educational  code  in 
England  provides  that  sewing  shall  be  made  compulsory 
for  all  girls,  and  even  for  the  boys  who  are  under  seven 
years  of  age.  The  latest  reports  show  that  in  Switzerland 
4,373  females  are  employed  in  schools  teaching  needle- 
work alone ;  and  in  all  the  people's  schools  in  Germany, 
as  well  as  in  the  numerous  girls'  schools,  sewing  and 
needlework  are  added  to  the  other  studies.  In  Bavaria 
alone  there  are  over  fifteen  hundred  schools  in  which  this 
is  a  regular  part  of  the  programme,  to  say  nothing  of  her 
thirty-six  technological  institutions,  her  polytechnic  school 
at  Munich,  and  four  agricultural  colleges. 

Every  effort  to  afford  practical  instruction  in  this  in- 
genious and  refined  art  will  receive  essential  assistance 
from  its  being  made  a  requisite  part  of  public  education. 
Instruction  in  drawing  is  necessary  in  order  to  enable  the 
pupils  to  prepare,  as  well  as  understand,  tasty  designs  in 
embroidery.  It  is  a  matter  of  common  observation  in 
the  Boston  schools  that  those  who  excel  in  drawing  excel 
likewise  in  sewing ;  but  that  is  not  surprising  when 
properly  considered,  for  it  is  merely  a  training  of  the 
hand  and  eye  in  either  case. 

Before  leaving  Boston,  we  find  another  instance  of  a 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.    231 

small  industrial  school  in  Dorchester,  now  a  part  of  that 
city,  which  has  existed  ever  since  1853,  for  training  girls 
in  domestic  affairs  and  other  avocations.  Its  object  has 
been  to  take  poor  and  unprotected  children  and  train 
them  to  good  personal  habits,  to  instruct  them  in  house- 
hold labor,  to  exert  a  moral  influence  and  discipline  over 
their  conduct,  and  to  qualify  them  in  methods  of  earning 
their  own  livelihood.  A  writer  in  the  Boston  Transcript 
says : 

Of  those  who  have  passed  through  the  school,  many 
are  well  provided  for  in  homes  of  their  own,  many  others 
supporting  themselves  honorably  by  nursing,  cooking, 
parlor  work  or  housework,  or  by  trades  of  various  kinds. 
Tbis  school  is  wholly  supported  by  voluntary  contributions. 

This  reminds  us  of  the  practical  plan  of  Mrs.  Eliza- 
beth Thompson  for  establishing  Kindergarten  homes,  and 
to  remove  thus  away  from  their  miserable  surroundings 
and  temptations  the  poor  children  in  the  cities  who  are 
likely  to  become  inmates  of  poor-houses,  asylums,  and 
prisons,  and  teach  their  hearts  to  be  good  and  their  hands 
to  be  useful  in  industry. 

As  the  public  schools  at  Montclair,  New  Jersey,  are 
the  very  first,  it  is  believed,  in  this  country  to  adopt  an 
industrial  department,  some  little  detail  in  explanation 
of  the  movement  is  excusable.  The  facts  are  derived 
from  a  friendly  observer,  but  are  undoubtedly  substan- 
tially correct. 

The  origin  of  industrial  instruction  in  the  Montclair 
public  schools  may  be  traced  directly  to  a  spirit  of  oppo- 
sition to  the  high  school,  in  which  the  higher  branches 
are  taught,  and  boys  and  girls  prepared  for  college.  A 
large  number  of  voters  claimed  that  the  taxes  necessary  to 


232    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

support  the  high  school  directly  benefited  but  from  sixty 
to  eighty  scholars,  when  the  larger  proportion  of  those 
who  attended  school,  being  obliged  to  leave  before  they 
are  fourteen  years,  not  only  derive  no  advantage  from 
the  higher  educational  facilities,  but  have  to  go  into  the 
world  without  any  practical  knowledge  whatever. 

To  counterbalance  this  apparent  inequality  in  the  dif- 
ferent departments  of  the  educational  system,  a  committee 
of  ladies  and  gentlemen  was  appointed  at  a  meeting  of 
the  legal  voters  of  the  school  district,  held  July,  1881,  to 
examine  the  various  plans  of  technical  or  industrial  edu- 
cation in  practical  operation,  and  to  report  at  a  subsequent 
meeting  as  to  the  feasibility  of  incorporating  with  the 
grammar  school  a  department  for  technical  instruction. 
During  the  ensuing  school  year  the  committee  examined 
the  plans  and  workings  of  various  industrial  and  technical 
schools  in  Philadelphia,  New  York,  and  Massachusetts ; 
and  in  May,  1882,  presented  their  report,  in  which  they 
stated  what  they  had  seen  and  done  in  the  premises,  and 
recommended  the  formation  of  an  industrial  department 
in  the  Montclair  public  schools.  They  recommended 
further,  that  the  instruction  afforded  by  such  a  depart- 
ment should  not  be  technical,  but  should  be  designed  and 
adapted  to  impart,  as  far  as  possible,  a  general  knowledge 
of  the  use  of  tools,  and  to  inspire  the  pupils  with  confi- 
dence in  their  own  ability  to  do  something  of  a  practical 
nature.  To  carry  out  this  plan  an  appropriation  of  $1,000 
was  voted  at  the  annual  appropriation  meeting  in  July ; 
and  in  September,  1882,  the  system  went  into  effect. 
The  plan  followed  was  substantially  that  adopted  by  the 
school  of  Gloucester,  Massachusetts  ;  i.  e.,  a  two  years' 
course  of  instruction  in  the  use  of  wood- working  tools, 


INDUSTRIAL   EDUCATION   IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.    233 

and  the  two  classes,  numbering  some  thirty-five  each, 
were  selected  from  the  second  and  third  grades  of  the 
grammar  department,  as  those  who  would  be  the  most 
directly  benefited  by  such  instructions.  Their  ages  are 
from  eleven  to  fifteen  years. 

During  the  six  months  that  have  already  elapsed  each 
boy  has  received  weekly  two  hours'  industrial  instruction. 
After  fitting  up  the  shop,  the  procurement  of  a  suitable 
instructor  became  the  question  of  greatest  importance. 
The  trustees  found  that  with  the  limited  funds  at  their 
disposal  they  could  not  command  such  services  as  they 
desired,  viz.,  those  of  a  young,  reliable  mechanic  who 
should  be  not  only  a  master  of  his  trade,  but  have  the  ad- 
ditional faculty  of  imparting  his  knowledge  to  others  and 
of  exciting  the  enthusiasm  of  his  students  in  their  work. 
They  finally  secured  the  services  of  a  capable  master-car- 
penter who  thoroughly  understands  his  vocation. 

The  natural  tendency  of  the  pupils  was  to  regard  the 
work-hour  as  a  time  for  recreation,  and  it  took  some  time 
to  impress  upon  them  the  fact  that  it  was  as  much  a  part 
of  the  school  exercises  as  any  recitation.  The  class  has 
been  taught,  in  order,  the  use  of  the  hammer,  saw,  chisel, 
and  plane;  and  the  principles  of  cutting,  squaring,  and 
joining  wood,  including  the  art  of  mortising  and  dovetail- 
ing. At  present  they  are  engaged  in  making  pine  and  wal- 
nut frames.  On  the  whole,  their  work  is  very  creditable. 
No  attempt  is  made  to  derive  any  profit  from  the  work, 
such  a  step  being  deemed  for  the  present  unadvisable. 

Of  the  practical  results  obtained  it  is  too  early  to  form 
any  reliable  opinion.  In  making  the  experiment,  boys 
have  been  taken  into  the  classes  without  regard  to  their 
aptitude,  and  those  who  expected  to  see  them  in  three 


234:    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

months  develop  into  mechanics  have  been  disappointed. 
It  certainly  has  given  the  pupils  knowledge  of  a  prac- 
tical character  which  will  be  of  use  through  life,  and 
it  has  also,  observably,  made  them  more  self-reliant. 
The  expenses  of  the  current  year  may  slightly  exceed  the 
amount  of  the  appropriation.  It  is  not  expected  that 
the  boys  shall  become  proficient  in  any  of  the  work  taught 
in  the  class  unless  by  means  of  outside  practice.  The 
aim  and  object  kept  in  view  is  to  develop  an  inclination 
for  mechanical  pursuits,  and  to  so  far  familiaiize  them 
with  the  general  use  of  tools  as  to  foster  and  encourage  a 
desire  and  purpose  to  master  their  use,  by  the  exercise 
outside  of  the  class  of  the  principles  and  modes  of  prac- 
tice in  real  work.  The  tools  are  all  numbered  and  stored 
in  a  series  of  tool-chests,  and  a  set  of  tools  is  allotted  to 
each  boy  in  each  class,  who  becomes  responsible  for  their 
care.  Each  pupil  has  his  own  place  at  the  work-benches. 
The  order  of  exercises  consists  usually,  first,  of  an  ex- 
planation, by  means  of  a  blackboard,  of  the  work  assigned 
for  the  hour,  and  of  the  principle  involved,  and  of  the 
proper  order  of  detail  and  practice.  Tlie  actual  use  of 
the  tools  is  then  proceeded  with,  each  boy  in  turn  receiv- 
ing such  immediate  instruction  as  may  be  required.  The 
technical  rules  for  the  best  method  of  work  in  the  ac- 
complishment of  the  matter  in  hand  are  given,  and  pains 
taken  that  the  boys  shall  become  familiar  with  their  prac- 
tical application.  Thus  far,  the  classes  have  been  taught 
the  proper  use  of  the  hammer,  plane,  saw,  and  chisel ;  and 
the  sharpening  and  care  of  tools  ;  and  in  the  use  thereof 
have  been  taught  the  art  of  planing  neatly,  of  joining 
rough  edges  truly  and  squareh^,  of  sawing  truly  with  both 
rip  and  crosscut  saws,  of  boring  accurately  and  to  a  pur- 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION   IN   THE   UNITED  STATES.    235 

pose,  and  are  now  engaged  in  making  dovetailed  joints, 
and  forming  neat  miters,  mortises,  etc. 

As  in  all  other  studies,  there  is  a  wide  variance  in  the 
proficiency  of  the  several  scholars,  but  all  have  been 
manifestly  profited,  and  greatly  interested  and  pleased,  in 
discovering  the  possibilities  of  power  and  self-help  found 
latent  in  their  own  hands  and  fingers,  and  which  they  can 
master,  and,  by  proper  development,  with  the  aid  of  a  few 
tools,  make  serviceable  for  their  own  profit  and  the  enjoy- 
ment of  others.  No  text-books  have  been  used  or  recom- 
mended, the  teaching  having  been  wholly  confined,  thus 
far,  to  oral  and  practical  instruction  without  study  outside 
of  the  class-room.* 

*  The  lesson  of  December  2,  1882,  was  for  making  franaes  about  a  foot 
square,  and  the  following  rules  were  placed  upon  the  blackboard.  It  is 
given  as  a  sample  of  the  work  on  which  the  pupils  were  engaged : 

1.  Gauge  strip  S-J  inches  wide. 

2.  Plane  to  gauge-mark,  using  jack-plane,  jointer,  and  try-square. 

3.  Gauge  all  round  the  strip  |  of  an  inch  from  marked  side. 

4.  Plane  to  gauge-mark,  using  jack-plane  and  jointer. 

5.  Gauge  strip  1^  inches  from  each  edge,  also  in  center  of  the  two  gauge- 
marks  just  made. 

6.  Rip  the  strip  in  two  at  the  center  gauge-mark  last  made  with  a  rip-saw. 

7.  Plane  the  strips  to  gauge-marks,  straight  and  square,  using  jack-plane, 
jointer,  and  try-square. 

8.  Saw  the  strip,  marking  from  pieces  12|  inches  long. 

9.  Gauge  the  pieces  on  each  end  in  center  of  thickness,  also  on  their 
edges  from  the  ends  two  inches  up. 

10.  Mark  round  the  pieces  with  pencil  1|  inches  from  end,  using  try- 
square. 

1  ] .  Saw  down  on  flat  side  to  gauge-marks,  also  down  the  ends  to  meet 
the  cuts  just  made,  sawing  out  the  halvings,  using  crosscut-saw. 

12.  Fit  halvings  together,  using  paring-chisel,  keeping  the  frame  square 
and  "  out  of  wind." 

13.  Fasten  corners  with  screws. 

14.  Trim  corners  with  smoothing-planc  and  saw. 


236    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

"We  have  dwelt  upon  tliis  instance  as  an  example  for 
other  places  who  might  wish  to  follow  it,  in  order  to  give 
facilities  to  their  youth  for  acquiring  instruction  which  is 
so  necessary  in  the  industrial  pursuits. 

A  system  of  instruction  in  art-industry  has  been  in 
operation  for  two  years  in  the  Ilollings worth  Buildings, 
Locust  Street,  Philadelphia,  under  the  management  of 
Mr.  Charles  G.  Leland,  and  it  has  already  established  a  re- 
markable character  of  its  own.  Few  things  of  an  educa- 
tional kind  are  more  interesting  than  the  accounts  which 
come  to  us  of  the  wonderful  success  of  this  undertaking 
to  teach  industrial  art  in  the  public  schools  of  that  city. 
The  Bureau  of  Education  has  issued  Circular  4,  1882, 
which  was  prepared  by  Mr.  Leland,  explaining  his  theory 
of  hand-work  in  public  schools,  and  the  result  of  his  ex- 
perience in  the  practical  work  of  teaching  it ;  and  no  one 
can  read  the  report  without  feeling  a  lively  interest  in 
this  effort  to  educate  the  eye,  the  hand,  and  the  mind,  at 
the  same  time. 

As  a  preparation  for  industrial  art-work,  it  is  neces- 
sary that  the  pupil  should  be  able  to  design.  Drawing  is 
therefore  the  first  step,  and  Mr.  Leland  claims  that  by  his 
method  of  teaching  it  can  be  learned  in  much  less  time 
than  is  usually  required,  besides  teaching  at  the  same  time 
the  application  of  the  art  in  practical  work,  so  as  to  enable 
the  scholars  to  earn  a  living  at  once  by  making  something 
that  can  be  sold.  From  drawing  a  straight  line  the  pu- 
pil proceeds  immediately  to  outline  ornament  for  decora- 
tive work.  Tracing  and  the  aid  of  ruler  and  instruments 
are  permitted,  but  are  soon  abandoned,  and  in  a  very 
short  time  a  boy  or  girl  of  ordinary  capacity  can  design 
beautiful  original  patterns  which  are  made  to  serve  ex- 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION   IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.    237 

clusively  upon  the  work  of  the  student.  Only  practical 
results  are  aimed  at.  Great  importance  is  attached  to 
free-hand  drawing,  and  it  is  taught  with  special  reference 
to  the  studies  of  the  school.  The  principles  of  construc- 
tion lines  receive  some  attention,  but  geometrical  forms 
do  not  appear  to  be  of  much  account  in  the  plan  of  in- 
struction, and  perhaps  it  is  unimportant  to  the  purposes 
of  the  system. 

After  pointing  out  the  order  of  industrial  develop- 
ment, the  circular  alluded  to  proceeds  thus  : 

This  universal  truth,  that  man  develops  the  ornament- 
al, during  the  infancy  of  every  race,  before  the  useful, 
is  illustrated  in  every  individual.  The  child,  who  can- 
not as  yet  make  a  shoe  or  file  metals  or  master  a  trade, 
can,  however,  learn  to  design  decorative  outline  patterns, 
mold  beautiful  pottery,  set  mosaics,  carve  panels,  work 
sheet-leather,  and  repousse  or  emboss  sheet-brass.  He  or 
she  can  cut  and  apply  stencils,  model  papier-inache^  or 
carton-jpierre  (a  mixture  of  composition  and  paper-pulp), 
inlay  in  wood,  and  make  a  great  variety  of  elegant  ob- 
jects. If  a  child  can  learn  to  sew,  read,  sing,  draw,  and 
model  in  the  Kindergarten,  it  can  surely  pursue  higher 
branches,  both  literary  and  manual,  in  higher  schools. 
The  system  on  which  this  industrial  art-work  should  be 
taught  is  as  follows :  It  does  not  merely  consist  of  certain 
definite  branches,  such  as  modeling  or  carving  according 
to  patterns ;  it  is  the  learning  how  to  design  the  jpatterns,^ 
and  then  working  them  out  in  any  material,  such  as  wood, 
clay,  brass,  embroidery  stuffs,  or  stencils.  There  are  fifty 
or  a  hundred  such  minor  arts,  and  anybody  who  can  draw 
or  design  can  with  very  little  practice  in  a  few  days  ex- 
ecute them  fairly  in  any  substance  which  will  retain  im- 
pressions. It  is  a  remarkable  law  of  nature  or  of  human- 
ity that  all  the  minor  arts,  or  such  branches  of  industry 
as  are  allied  to  ornament,  are  very  easy,  and  can  generally 


238    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

be  so  far  mastered  in  a  daj  by  anybody  who  can  draw,  as 
to  enable  the  pupil  to  produce  a  perfectly  encouraging 
result.  But  industrial  art,  to  be  taught  in  schools,  need 
not  and  should  not  be  limited  to  ornamental  work.  This 
is  to  be  at  first  followed,  simply  because  it  is  the  only 
work  easy  enough  for  children  and  girls.  Carpenter's 
work,  or  joinery,  in  its  rudiments,  or  in  fact  any  branch 
of  practical  industry,  may  be  taken  up  as  soon  as  the  pu- 
pil is  fitted  for  it.  Industrial  art  in  schools  covers  the 
ground  or  tills  the  time  intervening  between  the  Kinder- 
garten and  the  industrial  school,  but  it  blends  with  and 
includes  the  latter.  It  is  characteristic  in  this,  that  the 
system,  as  I  conceive  it,  is  capable  of  being  introduced 
into  every  public  or  private  school  in  the  country,  or  into 
any  institution  where  there  is  a  preceptor  who  has  some 
knowledge  of  drawing,  with  sense  enough  to  apply  it  ac- 
cording to  certain  elementary  hand-books  of  art. 

The  school  began  its  work  in  April,  1881,  with  nearly 
a  hundred  pupils,  half  teachers  and  half  scholars.  The 
children  are  from  twelve  to  fifteen  years  of  age.  Every 
teacher  in  the  public  schools  selects  one  or  two  scholars. 
These  are  divided  into  two  classes,  one  attending  on  Tues- 
days from  3  to  5,  the  other  on  Thursdays  at  the  same 
hours.  When  the  pupils  can  make  a  fair  original  design, 
they  learn  painting,  modeling,  carving,  embroidery,  or 
metal  work.  They  are,  however,  variously  occupied,  some 
in  painting  plaques  and  tiles,  some  in  carving  walnut  pan- 
els, or  in  making  brackets,  doilies,  tidies,  chair-backs, 
hammering  brass-work  and  different  kinds  of  sheet-metal, 
and  still  others  in  a  variety  of  modeling,  ornamenting, 
and  glazing  clay-work,  and  the  girls  in  designing  pat- 
terns which  they  work  in  outline  embroidery  ;  and  the 
work  thus  done  is  of  such  a  character  as  to  be  suitable 
for  decorative  effect,  and  as  can  be  readily  sold  for  a  good 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.    239 

price  in  the  market.  The  operations  in  modeling  are 
taught  in  systematic  treatment,  and  embrace  a  great  vari- 
ety of  plastic  objects,  such  as  jars,  vases,  flowers,  fishes, 
branches,  vines,  and  leaves,  in  which  each  pupil  carries 
oat  his  own  design  according  to  his  own  liking,  and  no 
uniform  rule  has  been  adopted  except  that  it  must  be 
original.  The  work  in  sheet-metals  and  in  wood-carving 
gives  evidence  of  skill  even  in  those  who  have  not  prac- 
ticed it  longer  than  a  few  weeks  ;  showing  that  this  kind 
of  skill  can  be  easily  acquired  by  any  child  in  the  public 
schools.  Yery  excellent  specimens  in  drawing  are  exhib- 
ited at  the  table  devoted  to  that  study,  from  the  simplest 
forms  up  to  well-developed  ornaments,  and  are  afterward 
successfully  used  on  the  material  of  their  work.  Art 
needlework  is  taught  before  plain  sewing,  as  it  is  said  to 
make  the  latter  easier  in  the  end.  The  art  of  stenciling, 
or  flower-painting  on  cloth,  is  practiced,  the  picture  being 
surrounded  by  an  outline  of  needlework,  producing  very 
salable  articles  by  means  of  their  beauty.  Practice  in 
drawing  and  modeling,  owing  to  its  great  variety,  lead? 
gradually  to  tempered  beauty  in  original  designs  upon 
7vpousse-wor\\,  on  carved  wood,  vases,  and  jars,  and  in 
patterns  for  embossed  leather,  wall-paper,  carpets,  mosa- 
ics, inlaying,  and  articles  of  furniture,  for  the  execution 
of  all  these  may  be  intrusted  to  the  pupils  and  sold  for 
their  benefit. 

The  outlay  for  a  small  school  or  club  on  the  humblest 
scale  is  estimated  at  not  more  than  $20  or  $30.  The  re- 
quirements of  a  school  on  a  large  scale  for  a  city  would 
be  more.  The  school  board  at  Philadelphia  appropriated 
$1,500  in  the  year  18S2  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
school,  and  it  was  confidently  asserted  that  it  can  be  made 


240    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

entirely  self-supporting,  if  not  profitable,  by  means  of  the 
work  done  by  the  pupils. 

Of  the  practical  results  it  is  stated  that  there  is  a  great 
demand  for  boys  with  such  knowledge  as  is  acquired  in 
this  school,  and  Mr.  Leland  adds  :  "  I  could  without  ex- 
ception find  places  in  a  great  variety  of  manufactories  for 
all  the  pupils  in  the  public  industrial  school  who  have 
had  about  twenty  lessons  in  design  and  modeling.  .  .  . 
In  a  few  weeks  all  who  have  advanced  beyond  design  pro- 
duce work  that  has  a  market  value."* 

The  instruction  in  this  school  revives  the  traditions  of 
these  humble  arts,  many  of  which  are  almost  forgotten, 
and  some  of  them  introduced  for  the  first  time  into  this 
country.  They  are  not  an  invention.  They  constituted 
the  popular  art  of  the  past,  when  the  people  had  to  help 
themselves  to  what  was  useful  and  beautiful,  and  when, 
consequently,  the  households  of  the  common  classes  were 
made  somewhat  attractive  by  beautiful  specimens  of  mod- 

*  A  correspondent  writes  to  the  "  Decorator  and  Furnisher  "  as  follows  : 

The  city  of  Philadelphia  is  the  sole  proprietor  of  the  school,  and  through 
it  has  originated  a  reform  in  education  which  has  never  before  been  fully 
practiced  either  in  Europe  or  America. 

This  experimental  school  has  been  frequently  visited  by  distinguished 
foreigners,  as  well  as  by  many  Americans,  who  have  come  to  the  city  for 
the  express  purpose  of  examining  it. 

The  visitor  will  see  about  forty  pupils  engaged  in  studying  designs, 
about  as  many  more  modeling  vases,  etc.,  in  clay,  with  color  and  glaze,  carv- 
ing in  panels,  embroidering,  and  painting  in  oil,  etc. 

What  these  children  are  doing  is  to  qualify  them  for  the  workshop  or  to 
teach.  That  the  project  is  a  success  will  appear  from  a  few  facts.  A  prac- 
tical manufacturer  has  taken  many  of  the  pupils,  and  pays  them  well,  as  he 
regards  them  sufficiently  well  trained  to  be  of  use  as  designers. 

A  situation  with  good  pay  has  been  offered  to  a  girl  of  fourteen,  and 
one  of  the  boy-students  during  his  vacation  of  two  months  earned  $218- 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION   IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.    241 

eling  and  by  designs  in  their  furniture  and  domestic  uten- 
sils. The  plan  of  the  institution  revives  the  art-instincts 
of  the  people,  and  utilizes  them  in  numerous  branches  of 
remunerative  labor.  It  deserves  the  fullest  recognition 
for  the  careful  and  systematic  advancement  of  industrial 
art;  especially  since  it  is  a  department  of  the  public 
school  in  a  city  so  largely  engaged  in  the  interests  of  art- 
industry.  Moreover,  it  has  a  practical  value  to  thousands 
of  children  that  cannot  be  estimated,  for,  under  the  in- 
struction here  afforded,  though  entirely  ignorant  of  any 
useful  pursuit,  they  can  become  skilled  in  a  great  variety 
of  hand-work,  which  will  at  once  make  them  self-support- 
ing, and  which  will  be  of  great  service  even  to  those  who 
do  not  need  to  earn  a  living,  as  there  is  scarcely  a  situa- 
tion in  life  where  a  knowledge  of  these  simple  arts  will 
not  be  useful,  and  a  source  of  endless  enjoyment  to  all 
who  can  practice  them.* 

The  Spring  Garden  Institute,  of  the  city  of  Philadel- 
phia, has  an  industrial  department  fittted  up  with  bench- 
es, a  forge,  machine-tools  driven  by  a  gas-engine,  and  all 
the  appliances  of  a  first-class  workshop.  Instruction  is 
given  in  mechanical  handwork  to  classes  meeting  at  night. 
It  has  a  capacity  of  thirty-five  pupils  per  night;  each 
class  meets  two  evenings  per  week,  so  that  instruction 
can  be  given  to  about  one  hundred  and  five  individual 
pupils,  and  it  is  used  to  its  full  capacity.     The  tuition  is 

*  Mr.  Leland  is  editing  a  scries  of  cheap  illustrated  art-manuals,  in  which 
are  given  in  detail  all  the  directions  necessary  for  studying  the  minor  arts, 
so  that  any  number  of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  who  can  draw,  and  who  are 
interested  in  providing  emplojTnent,  or  in  advancing  improvement  among 
the  young  or  poor,  could  form  little  schools  or  societies  for  teaching  them 
in  these  means  of  industrial  art,  and  preparing  them  for  self-support  by 
hand  work  of  most  every  kind. 


242    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

fixed  at  five  dollars  for  two  evenings  per  week  for  three 
months. 

Instruction  in  the  metal  course  embraces  filing,  turn- 
ing, drilling,  forging,  and  the  mechanical  work  and  draw- 
ing connected  therewith  ;  the  vise-work  comprises  twenty- 
six  vises  and  one  hundred  and  sixty  running  feet  of  bench- 
room,  and  instruction  is  given  in  every  kind  of  filing  on 
cast  iron,  steel,  brass,  and  wrought  iron.  In  regard  to 
machine-tools,  the  shop  is  furnished  with  an  engine, 
power  planing-machine,  lathes,  drill-press,  and  the  ne- 
cessary shafting,  so  that  every  opportunity  to  learn  their 
practical  use  is  afforded  to  the  pupils.  Besides,  a  modern 
forge  has  been  provided,  embracing  the  tools  necessary 
in  forging  and  welding,  whether  the  work  is  simple  or 
intricate,  and  molding  and  casting  in  practical  founding 
work  will  be  added  (if  not  already  added)  at  the  neces- 
sary moment. 

It  is  the  design  of  the  managers  to  teach  joiners  as 
well  as  machinists,  and  for  this  purpose  to  introduce  class- 
es in  wood-working,  wood-turning,  carpentry  and  cabi- 
net-making, pattern-making,  and  other  branches  of  that 
industry. 

A.  very  large  number  of  the  pupils  are  machinists  or 
employes  in  machine-shops,  who,  in  the  absence  of  such 
instruction  as  was  afforded  to  apprentices  under  the  old 
system,  seek  this  school  as  the  best  place  in  which  to  ac- 
quire a  broad  knowledge  of  the  trade  at  which  they  work 
and  special  skill  in  the  handling  of  tools.  In  the  annu- 
al report  of  1881  it  is  stated  that,  in  the  natural  course  of 
events,  the  schools  have  become  employment  agencies  for 
the  pupils  who  enter  them,  and,  as  a  result  of  the  instruc- 
tion given  to  the  pupils,  many  of  them  have  obtained  de- 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.    243 

sirable  situations,  and  others  have  been  advanced  in  their 
chosen  professions. 

The  publications  of  several  technological  institutions 
show  that  they  have  excellent  manual  training-schools, 
in  which  the  pupils  are  taught  a  variety  of  mechanical 
operations,  including  the  use  of  tools  and  machinery 
in  working  upon  wood  and  metal.  The  Worcester  Free 
Institute  and  the  "Washington  University  at  St.  Louis, 
already  mentioned,  manufacture  articles  for  sale,  and  are 
managed  very  much  like  other  machine-shops,  only  that 
the  pupils  learn  the  science  as  well  as  the  practice  of 
mechanical  art.  The  shops  are  fairly  equipped  with  ma- 
chinery, and  the  instruction  must  be  of  excellent  quality, 
for  it  is  imparted  by  men  of  reputation  in  their  profession, 
and  the  students  they  send  out  become  civil  and  mechan- 
ical engineers  and  skilled  workmen,  and  find  situations  as 
superintendents  and  foremen  in  other  shops  without  diflS- 
culty.  These  schools  are  yet  in  their  infancy,  and  are  not 
sufficiently  endowed  so  as  to  make  instruction  free,  and 
they  require  assistance  in  order  to  advance  the  work  to 
that  point,  and  extend  the  sphere  of  their  usefulness  to  all. 

The  Industrial  Home  School,  situated  in  West  Wash- 
ington, District  of  Columbia,  is  another  step  in  the  path 
of  practical  education.  It  combines  the  advantages  of  a 
school  and  a  home,  to  which  are  admitted  a  number  of 
boys  and  girls — the  children  of  poor  parents,  to  be  taught, 
besides  the  ordinary  school-lessons,  such  industries  as  will 
fit  them  for  the  duties  of  life.  The  boys  are  taught  many 
useful  trades  and  employments,  while  the  girls  receive 
instruction  in  the  various  household  and  other  duties  ap- 
propriate to  their  sex.  The  principle  upon  which  the 
school  is  founded  comprehends  the  best  training  for  chil- 


244    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

dren  in  this  world,  that  is,  their  symmetrical  education  by 
giving  due  consideration  "  to  their  mental,  manual,  and 
moral  endowments.  The  mental  is  provided  for  by  the 
public  school,  which  is  already  a  part  of  the  education  of 
this  Home  Schooh  The  manual  is  attaining  importance 
by  the  industries  which  are  already  in  successful  operation 
in  this  school,  such  as  shoemaldng,  gardening,  cooking, 
sewing,  and  wood-work.  And  in  this  Cottage  Home  will 
be  exemplified  moral  training,  far  better  than  it  is  at  all 
possible  by  what  is  known  as  the  system  now  happily 
passing  away."  The  ground  for  the  Cottage  Home  was 
broken  for  the  building  in  the  early  summer  (1881),  and 
the  institution  has  received  the  hearty  sympathy  of  the 
friends  of  practical  education,  many  of  whom  have  de- 
voted their  best  efforts  to  its  success. 

The  Cincinnati  School  of  Design  exhibits  a  unique 
development  of  technical  study  and  instruction  in  the 
practical  work  of  some  of  the  skillful  industries,  such  as 
wood-carving,  designs  for  work  in  metal,  decoration  of 
furniture,  painting  on  china  and  porcelain.  The  students 
are  of  both  sexes,  and  the  course  of  study  commences  with 
lessons  in  drawing  and  the  primary  principles  of  design; 
and  when  they  can  draw  a  limited  number  of  leaves, 
flowers,  birds,  and  vines,  they  are  instructed  in  the  true 
principles  of  decoration.  In  the  report  for  the  year  1878, 
as  a  proof  of  the  efficiency  of  the  school,  a  list  is  given  of 
names  and  occupations  of  students  who  have  turned  their 
training  to  practical  use,  the  record  covering  eight  years. 
There  are  two  hundred  and  eight  names,  fifty-four  of  them 
those  of  women.  Lithographers,  designers,  sculptors,  en- 
gravers, landscape-painters,  and  even  sign-painters  and 
"  stripers,"  architects,  decorators,  turners,  and  others  are 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION   IN   THE  UNITED   STATES.    245 

mentioned  in  this  list,  and  twentj-one  persons  are  named 
as  engaged  in  carving  or  other  work  in  wood.  The  list, 
however,  gives  the  names  of  those  pupils  only  of  whose 
subsequent  course  the  teacher  of  drawing  has  positive 
knowledge,  and  a  foot-note  explains  that  the  list  includes 
but  few  of  the  members  of  the  classes  in  carving,  "  for 
the  reason  that  the  larger  number  of  the  pupils  in  those 
classes  have  employed  their  talent  in  beautifying  their 
own  homes  rather  than  in  the  production  of  objects  for 
sale ;  all  of  them  have  executed  valuable  pieces  of  work, 
and  could  earn  a  living  by  carving  and  designing  were 
they  so  inclined."  The  only  manufactory  of  carved  wood 
in  Cincinnati  can  probably  be  traced  to  the  existence  of 
the  School  of  Design. 

"We  have  emphasized  these  few  examples  of  the  In- 
dustrial School  because  they  are  new  in  this  country,  and, 
like  almost  every  other  innovation,  will  encounter  many 
difficulties  before  they  succeed  in  attaining  a  solid  founda- 
tion. They  show  the  progress  already  made,  and  should 
serve  to  encourage  the  friends  of  industrial  education  by 
the  promise  they  suggest  of  still  greater  progress  in  the 
future.  Tlie  old  system  of  apprenticeship  is  already 
dead,  nor  is  its  general  revival  either  possible  or  desirable. 
The  great  change  in  our  industries  requires  a  correspond- 
ing change  in  the  mode  of  learning  them.  A  knowledge 
of  a  handicraft  now  includes  some  proficiency  in  art-sci- 
ence, and  has  become  an  exponent  of  intellectual  capacity. 
Most  of  the  manual  occupations  require  some  instruction 
in  the  art  of  drawing  and  in  the  theoretical  as  well  as 
practical  elements  of  art-education.  This  was  not  attain- 
able when  the  apprentice  picked  his  trade  up  in  the  course 
of  daily  labor,  and  his  master  was  as  ignorant  as  himself 


246    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

of  the  related  principles.  He  learned  slowly,  for  mueli 
of  his  time  was  occupied  in  unskilled  work  and  menial 
service,  and  indeed  his  lot  was  often  that  of  a  mere 
drudge.  Our  industrial  establishments,  moreover,  are  on 
a  surpassing  scale  of  expense  and  mechanical  perfection, 
often  employing  a  thousand  workmen ;  and  the  individual 
mechanic,  working  in  his  own  shop  and  giving  scanty 
information  to  his  apprentices,  is  fading  out  before  the 
energies  of  modern  skill  and  perseverance.  We  might 
as  well  find  fault  with  this  revolution  as  with  the  railway 
for  taking  the  place  of  the  stage-coach.  Besides,  we 
must  remember  also  that  our  workshops  are  much  more 
systematically  organized,  and  that  the  work  is  split  up 
into  various  subdivisions,  so  that  each  mechanic  works 
only  upon  a  mere  fragment  of  his  trade.  It  is  said  that 
in  the  Waltham  shops  a  watch  passes  through  the  hands 
of  seventy  or  eighty  different  workmen.  It  would  be 
impossible  for  the  young  artisan  to  acquire  anything  like 
a  general  or  scientific  knowledge  of  his  trade  in  a  regular 
workshop.  At  the  most  he  could  become  only  a  fragment 
of  a  workman.  In  several  of  the  wood  and  iron  trades 
this  splitting-up  process  has  been  going  on  until  a  gener- 
ally skilled  artisan  in  them  is  becoming  almost  unknown. 
It  seems  reasonable  that  this  difficulty  may  be  met  and 
overcome  by  an  industrial  and  technical  education  which 
will  make  workmen  in  the  start  by  sending  out  graduates 
who  understand  the  general  application  of  scientific  prin- 
ciples in  the  use  of  tools  and  machiner}-.  There  will  in 
tlie  nature  of  things  always  be  a  demand  for  the  general 
artisan  in  the  management  of  large  establishments,  and 
he  will  possess  that  great  advantage  over  his  fellow-work- 
man  who  has  only  got  a  small  section  of  his  trade. 


INDUSTRIAL   EDUCATION   IN   THE   UNITED   STATES.    2i7 

This  transition  in  our  manufactures  and  commerce 
demands  a  corresponding  change  in  the  education  of  the 
industrial  classes ;  and  it  is  ahnost  universally  conceded, 
by  those  who  have  considered  the  question,  that  manual 
and  technical  instruction,  while  acquiring  a  trade,  will 
supply  this  want.  It  is  the  trained  hand  that  can  turn 
general  knowledge  and  sound  theories  to  practical  ac- 
count, and  thus  secure  the  physical  prosperity  which 
results  from  steady  and  remunerative  employment.  It 
is  this  which  can  redeem  labor  from  its  servile  tendency ; 
for  when  labor  is  pursued  without  skill  or  cultivation  it 
is  very  sure  to  deteriorate  into  mere  brute  force.  Here, 
then,  is  the  idea  distinctly  presented  to  our  mind :  we 
know  what  is  wanted,  and  it  is  occupying  our  earnest 
attention  in  its  gradual  development  to  an  established 
method.  We  know  that  the  advance  of  an  idea  has  in 
some  instances  been  singularly  tardy.  But  the  experi- 
ment has  been  tried  in  Europe  and  on  a  small  scale  in 
the  United  States.  Public-spirited  citizens  in  our  large 
cities  should  place  sufficient  sums  of  money  at  the  disposal 
of  the  educational  authorities  to  inaugurate  such  schools 
in  accordance  with  the  peculiar  wants  and  industries  of 
the  locality ;  and  much  of  the  time  and  means  now  ex- 
pended in  studies  which  only  serve  to  gratify  taste,  and 
will  never  be  of  service  to  the  pupils,  might  be  more 
profitably  devoted  to  practical  lessons  in  the  proper  pur- 
suits to  be  followed  in  after-life. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Industry  a  matter  of  state  importance — Schools  for  industry  to  be  estab- 
lished by  the  state — Course  pursued  by  Great  Britain — Art-schools 
and  drawing  in  England — Effect  of,  on  prosperity — Manual  instruction 
correlated — How  to  treat  the  question — Not  to  be  introduced  into  the 
school-room — Dr.  White's  and  Mr.  MacAlister's  views — Schools  at 
Montclair  and  Philadelphia — Manual  training  in  Europe — It  improves 
the  pupils — Public  opinion — Conflicting  opinions  and  objections — State- 
ment of  the  same — Diversity  of  views — Mr.  Stetson's — Dr.  White's — 
United  States'  limited  provision  for  industrial  education — Consideration 
of  popular  objections — Instruction  in  the  use  of  tools  and  machinery — 
Illustrations — Pursuits  that  resemble  each  other — Mechanical  powers 
— Trades  easily  learned — Occupations  will  multiply — No  danger  of 
glutting  them — Mode  of  industrial  instruction — Moderate  instruction 
at  outset — Pupils  with  a  general  knowledge  of  hand-tools  prepared  for 
a  variety  of  trades — Illustrated  by  Mr.  Leland's  school — A  community 
of  skilled  workmen,  its  value — Further  notice  of  industrial  schools  in 
Europe — Statement  of  M.  Eossat — School  at  Charleville — Industrial 
training  in  French  elementary  schools — School  of  the  Rue  Tournefort 
— The  French  act  of  1880 — Programme  of  the  commission — Report  of 
H.  Tolman,  senator — Conclusions  of  the  Boston  committee — Views  of 
Mr.  Steel — Important  as  coming  from  the  right  quarter. 

But  the  time  has  come  to  extend  our  view  beyond 
these  individual  and  scattered  efforts,  for  it  is  claimed 
with  much  semblance  of  justice  that  the  interdependence 
which  exists  between  manual  education  and  the  industrial 
prosperity  of  the  state  is  a  subject  of  too  much  impor- 


THE  STATE   AND   MANUAL  EDUCATION.  249 

tance  to  be  safely  left  either  to  the  speculations  of  the 
mere  philosophical  theorist,  or  to  the  narrow  and  short- 
sighted views  engendered  by  personal  or  local  interests  ; 
and  it  is  therefore  asserted  that  the  state  itself  should 
recognize  the  relation  between  a  high  type  of  manual 
education  and  the  great  interests  of  material  prosperity, 
just  as  it  makes  provision  for  the  cultivation  of  the 
mental  powers,  and  all  that  goes  to  make  up  the  moral 
and  intellectual  capacity  of  the  community ;  and  it  is 
suggested  that,  as  the  common  welfare  becomes  fixed  and 
possible  only  by  the  joint  labor  of  mental  and  physical 
endowments,  the  education  of  each  should  to  some  ex- 
tent pari  2>ccssu  accompany  the  other.  It  is  argued  that 
industrial  schools  should  be  established  by  the  state ;  or 
at  least  that  opportunities  for  industrial  instruction  at  its 
expense  should  be  provided  in  different  districts,  to  be 
determined,  of  course,  by  the  pursuits  and  experience  of 
the  people. 

When  Great  Britain  found  lierself  outstripped  at  the 
Crystal  Palace  Exhibition,  she  "  faced  the  music  "  at  once, 
and  established  the  South  Kensington  Museum,  with  its 
annexed  art-schools,  at  an  expense  of  six  million  dollars. 
There  are  now  (1882)  nearly  two  hundred  art-schools  in 
England,  where  thirty  thousand  people  receive  instruction  ; 
and  the  progress  is  still  more  remarkable  in  the  way  of 
general  education,  for  there  are  not  less  than  four  thou- 
sand two  hundred  schools  where  drawing  is  taught,  and 
where  nearly  a  million  pupils  are  instructed  in  drawing 
and  design.  Between  1874  and  1878  Parliament  ex- 
pended over  one  million  dollars  in  aid  of  drawing-schools 
and  museums  of  art.  Says  the  author  from  whom  I  take 
these  facts :  "  The  English  were  eminently  a  practical 

12 


250    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRy. 

people,  and  tlionght  this  an  excellent  investment  to  in- 
crease the  wealth  of  the  nation  ;  .  .  .  the  English  now  sur- 
pass the  world  in  certain  kinds  of  articles."  We  may  con- 
fidently affirm  that  the  wealth  and  business  prosperity  of 
Great  Britain  are  to-day  owing  as  much  to  these  schools  as 
to  any  other  cause,  for  by  means  of  the  improved  appear- 
ance of  all  her  mechanical  products  she  has  been  enabled 
to  regain  lier  mastery  all  over  the  globe.  She  took  the 
lesson  of  the  Crystal  Palace  to  heart,  and  set  an  eminent 
example  of  renaissance  in  her  industrial  art  through  the 
active  agency  of  the  Government. 

Much  of  the  instruction  received  in  the  English  art- 
schools,  such  as  drawing,  geometry,  etc.,  has  been  recent- 
ly introduced  into  our  public  schools.  If  these  were 
developed  in  close  connection  with  the  expedient  of  manu- 
al instruction,  which  would  show  the  practical  application 
of  the  knowledge  acquired  by  the  students  in  these  stud- 
ies, public  education  would  then  be  fixed  upon  the  im- 
movable basis  of  industrial  rights  and  conquests.  The 
fact  must  sooner  or  later  be  recognized,  that  manual  in- 
struction is  correlated  and  inseparable  in  any  adequate 
system  of  public  teaching ;  and  that  it  is  important  that 
provision  be  made  where  our  youth  can  be  taught  who 
intend  to  engage  in  industrial  pursuits ;  for  without  this 
assistance  our  skilled  industries  can  not  be  carried  on  ex- 
cept by  the  importation  of  that  species  of  labor  from  other 
countries. 

The  sneering  observation  is  frequently  heard  that  the 
public  schools  cannot  be  expected  to  turn  out  ready-made 
smiths,  carpenters,  wheelwrights,  masons,  brick-layers, 
slioemakers,  tailors,  and  farmers.  This  is,  of  course,  in- 
tended to  be  a  crusher,  and  to  settle  the  matter  peremptori- 


MANUAL  TRAINING   IN  TUCLIC  SCHOOLS.  251 

ly.  It  is  not  exactly,  however,  upon  this  principle  that  the 
great  question  of  industrial  education  is  or  ought  to 
be  treated.  Good  men  may  and  do  differ  as  to  the  best 
mode  for  the  practical  instruction  of  a  whole  community  ; 
but  they  ought  not  to  be  embarrassed  by  a  superficial  slur. 
Even  if  this  were  the  purpose  of  manual  training,  it  would 
be  as  little  a  reproach  to  it  as  it  is  to  the  present  system 
that  it  turns  out  so  many  ready-made  clerks,  book-keepers, 
accountants,  insurance  agents,  and  students  prepared  for 
entering  college.  The  way  in  which  manual  training 
ought  to  be  carried  on,  and  the  extent  to  which  our  pub- 
lic schools  can  be  used  for  that  purpose,  is  of  course  a 
question  tliat  will  receive  a  variety  of  answers.  It  is  not 
intended  to  introduce  the  pegging  or  the  sewing  machine, 
or  any  other  machine  into  the  school-room.  Upon  this 
subject  there  is  much  misunderstanding ;  for,  while  the 
state  has  clearly  a  right  to  direct  the  ingredients  of  the 
education  it  freely  furnishes  to  all,  it  is  not  intended  that 
work  and  study  are  to  occur  in  the  same  apartments  or 
even  in  the  same  building  necessarily.  For  instance.  Dr. 
E.  E.  White,  who  strenuously  objects  to  manual  training 
in  the  public  schools,  is  perhaps  under  this  erroneous 
impression,  for  he  qualifies  his  objections  by  saying :  "  Of 
course,  I  could  take  no  exception  to  all  that  may  be  said 
in  favor  of  technical  and  industrial  schools,  standing 
beside  the  public  schools  and  carrying  on  this  work  of 
education — giving  to  our  youth  technical  and  special  train- 
ing for  industrial  pursuits.  That  is  what  we  have  got  to 
do  in  this  country.  We  must  have  a  system  of  technical 
training,  and  the  question  is.  Shall  we  put  a  system  into 
the  public  schools,  as  they  are  now  organized  ? " 

And  Mr.  MacAlister  expressed  his  opinion  to  be,  that 


252    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

alongside  the  higlischool  there  might  be  a  manual  train- 
ing-school that  should  fit  the  pupils  to  enter  in  advance 
upon  those  industrial  occupations  that  they  intended 
to  follow.  These  gentlemen  agree  that  industrial  educa- 
tion is  valuable,  and  that  there  is  no  objection  to  any 
measures  for  its  promotion,  if  the  schools  for  that  purpose 
are  placed  by  themselves.  We  see  that  things  have  taken 
that  course  already.  There  are  at  least  two  instances  of 
that  kind  described  in  the  preceding  chapter — the  shop 
which  was  fitted  up  for  industrial  instruction  in  the  town 
of  Montclair,  and  the  room  devoted  to  industrial  art  in 
the  Hollingsworth  Buildings,  Philadelphia.  They  are 
both  designed  as  accessories  to  the  common  school,  sepa- 
rated from  it,  and  yet  contiguous  enough  to  accommo- 
date the  public-school  children ;  and  the  extent  to  which 
they  have  achieved  success  is  rapidly  solving  the  problem 
of  industrial  education  in  the  United  States.  The  question 
of  manual  and  elementary  instruction  is  now  scarcely  an 
open  one,  for  the  formula  of  reconciliation  between  them 
has  at  length  been  discovered ;  and  the  two  forces,  in- 
stead of  being  rivals,  are  becoming  good  friends.  Besides, 
it  is  a  matter  of  general  observation  that  manual  training 
and  ordinary  teaching  have  been  conducted  in  distinct 
parts  of  the  same  school  for  many  years  in  Europe ;  and 
that  generally  the  effect  of  this  has  served  to  enlarge  the 
faculties,  refine  the  taste,  to  give  clearness  and  breadth  to 
the  intellect,  to  make  the  character  more  helpful  and 
self-reliant,  and  to  start  the  pupils  with  the  best  prospects 
of  success  in  the  practical  ends  of  life.  Education  can 
by  this  means  be  made  a  unit,  and  not  a  fragment.  In- 
deed, this  system  of  commensurate  education  is  demanded 
by  reasons  more  imperative  than  those  which  require  the 


MANUAL   TRAINING   IN   PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  253 

bigb-school  for  a  superior  training  in  music,  languages, 
and  the  courses  preparatory  to  entering  college. 

The  interest  felt  in  this  question  is  but  partially  ex- 
emplified in  the  few  schools  in  this  country,  for  it  is 
si^reading  to  our  business  centers,  and  this  volume  might 
be  filled  with  passages  taken  from  recent  books  and  mag- 
azines, from  newspapers  and  speeches,  manifesting  the 
disinterested  and  moral  activity  of  public  intelligence 
upon  the  subject. 

At  this  point  it  will  be  convenient  to  consider  some 
of  the  conflicting  opinions  and  popular  objections  to  in- 
dustrial education  in  public  instruction.  Many  persons 
believe  that  it  would  prove  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the 
community  at  large  and  to  the  industrial  classes  in  par- 
ticular, but  they  are  all  at  sea  as  to  the  method  to  be 
adopted.  Doubt,  they  say,  exists  as  to  the  duty  of  the 
public  to  fit  every  young  man  for  a  trade  or  profession. 
The  assumption  that  this  is  a  work  belonging  to  private 
effort  is  acquiesced  in  by  many  people  who  believe  that 
industrial  education  in  one  way  or  another  has  become 
absolutely  indispensable.  Others  admit  that  this  neces- 
sity is  not  to  be  disguised ;  but  hesitate  to  advise  the 
teaching  of  trades  in  the  public  schools  as  impractical. 
Of  all  the  phases  in  which  the  question  has  been  dis- 
cussed, the  latter  is  probably  the  one  upon  which  the 
views  of  distinguished  educators  have  differed  the  most; 
and  while  they  express  a  unanimous  opinion  in  favor  of 
teaching  industry,  many  claim  that  it  ought  not  to  be 
introduced  into  the  elementary  schools,  because,  they 
say,  the  subjects  now  taught  fill  all  the  time  devoted  to 
study,  and  it  would  be  productive  of  no  benefit  to  sup- 
plant any  of  them  by  industrial  training,  and  that  there 


254    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

is  no  time  to  cany  out  such  training  without  sacrificing 
some  of  the  important  branches  of  general  education 
which  would  be  more  useful  to  the  pupils  than  any 
little  tbej  might  learn  as  apprentices.  They  also  urge 
that,  even  if  there  were  time  without  infringing  upon 
other  studies,  what  kind  of  trades  would  you  select  to 
be  taught — should  it  be  the  plane,  the  file,  the  chisel,  or 
the  shuttle  ?  And  where  would  be  the  room  for  the 
bench,  the  lathe,  the  anvil,  or  the  loom  ?  Where  can  be 
found  a  master  capable  of  teaching  the  use  of  these  tools, 
and  of  many  others  ?  It  is  true,  say  these  objectors,  in 
case  of  necessity,  the  use  of  the  spade  and  the  rake  might 
be  introduced  into  rural  schools ;  and  of  course  the  use 
of  the  needle  should  not  be  neglected  in  girls'  schools,  be- 
cause, whatever  their  position,  all  women  should  become 
seamstresses  for  their  own  families.  Another  objection 
to  the  introduction  of  manual  instruction  into  the  ele- 
mentary schools  is  its  great  cost.  The  necessary  enlarge- 
ment of  the  school,  the  tools  and  machines  (to  be  renewed 
at  every  improvement),  and  the  raw  material  (which 
would  be  lost  if  unskillf  ully  made  up),  would  be  sources  of 
enormous  expense.  These  objections  were  urged  before 
the  French  Imperial  Commission  to  examine  the  technical 
schools  of  the  empire  ;  but  they  appear  to  have  made  but 
slight  impression,  and  are  now  almost  entirely  forgotten 
in  the  brilliant  success  of  the  industrial  schools  which 
have  been  since  established. 

There  is  undoubtedly  a  very  sincere  conviction,  ex- 
pressed in  a  variety  of  ways,  that  although  industrial 
education  is  highly  important,  there  is  yet  considerable 
diversity  of  opinion  whether  it  should  hold  a  position  in 
the  public-school  system.     Even  as  powerful  an  advo- 


MANUAL  TRAINING  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  255 

cate  of  manual  training  as  Mr.  Stetson  was  induced  to 
declare  that  the  introduction  of  systematic  manual  labor 
into  public  scliools  appeared  to  be  a  thing  of  altogether 
doubtful  expediency.  He  adds,  however,  that  in  appren- 
tice-schools— schools  attached  to  workshops  and  manufact- 
ures— as  it  is  the  leading  object  of  these  schools  to  teach 
practical  application,  systematic  manual  labor  should,  of 
course,  form  the  leading  feature  of  the  instruction  given. 
He  concludes  by  observing  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
a  certain  amount  of  manual  labor,  especially  if  it  shows 
the  practical  application  of  the  theory  which  the  student 
is  acquiring,  does  not  retard  but  decidedly  promotes  his 
progress  in  theoretical  knowledge. 

It  is  impossible,  says  Dr.  White,  who  is  at  the  head  of 
a  college  of  science  and  industry,  for  the  public  school  to 
teach  a  tithe  of  its  pupils  the  pursuits  or  occupations  by 
which  they  are  to  earn  a  living ;  that  of  the  one  hundred 
and  seventy-two  occupations  classed  in  the  census  of  1870 
as  manufactures  and  mechanical  and  mining  industries, 
not  a  score  can  be  taught  in  a  school-shop ;  that  the 
teaching  of  a  few  trades  to  all  pupils  would  crowd  those 
pursuits  with  workmen  and  reduce  the  compensation  of 
skilled  labor  to  the  wages  of  common  laborers,  and  would 
glut  those  occupations,  and  leave  many  skilled  workmen 
without  employment ;  and  that  the  teaching  of  handi- 
craft in  the  schools  would  give  nine  tenths  of  the  pupils 
skill  which  they  would  never  use  in  after-life,  or  use  only 
incidentally  ;  and  much  more  to  the  same  effect. 

Recent  examples  should  teach  us  to  beware  of  objec- 
tions such  as  these,  when  the  prospects  of  industrial  im- 
provement are  too  abundant  to  lead  us  into  speculative 
error.    Such  schooL  flourish  in  Europe,  especially  in  those 


2oQ    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

countries  where  tliej  are  sustained  at  the  public  expense. 
While  the  United  States  has  made  greater  provision  for 
general  instruction  than  anj  other  nation,  she  is  far  be- 
hind all  others  in  the  successful  prosecution  of  indus- 
trial education  ;  and  it  is  singular  that,  in  a  country  like 
this,  which  claims  the  glory  of  being  the  working-man's 
friend  par  excellence^  it  should  do  so  much  less  for  his  in- 
dustrial training  than  Austria  or  Russia,  than  Germany 
or  Switzerland. 

These  are  understood  to  be  the  leading  objections,  and 
it  is  believed  they  are  stated  in  a  form  as  near  as  pos- 
sible to  that  in  which  they  are  expressed  by  those  who  en- 
tertain them.  They  deserve  respectful  attention,  because 
they  are  the  views  of  some  of  the  most  earnest  friends  of 
both  general  and  industrial  education.  We  are  aware 
that  these  important  considerations  have  been  already  can- 
vassed successfully  by  men  entitled  to  be  heard,  from 
their  practical  connection  with  the  subject ;  and  the  au- 
thor will,  therefore,  content  himself  with  stating  some  gen- 
eral observations  only,  that  almost  arise  spontaneously  in 
reply. 

In  regard  to  the  great  variety  of  mechanical  pursuits 
and  operations,  and  the  expense  that  would  be  involved 
if  manual  training  prevailed  in  the  public  schools,  and  that 
it  would  interfere  with  other  studies  deemed  essential  to 
a  general  education,  let  it  be  remembered  that  it  is  to 
form  part  of  a  system  in  which  the  training  of  the  mind  is 
to  go  hand  in  hand  with  general  training  in  the  rudiments 
of  industry,  including  a  knowledge  of  the  mechanical 
principles  underlying  all  trades,  and  a  proficiency  in  the 
shaping  and  use  of  tools.  The  time  of  the  children  will 
be  occupied  in  the  ordinary  kinds  of  lessons,  but  during 


MANUAL  TRAINING  IN   TUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  257 

some  portion  of  the  school-hours  they  will  work  something 
in  the  manner  of  apprentices,  but  with  this  difference, 
that  they  will  be  instructed  while  at  such  work  in  the 
theory  and  principles  of  their  work.  In  other  words,  they 
will  acquire  technical  knowledge  and  practical  mannipula- 
tion  to  a  degree  high  enough  to  enable  them  to  find  lu- 
crative employment  in  some  useful  calling  upon  leaving 
school.  The  instruction  should  be  limited  at  the  outset, 
and  be  of  the  least  expensive  character ;  and  no  trade  in 
particular  will  be  taught,  but  the  pupils  will  be  made  ac- 
quainted generally  with  the  use  of  tools  and  machinery. 
In  carpentry,  for  instance,  there  might  be  taught  the  use 
of  the  saw,  the  plane,  and  the  lathe,  in  a  shop  costing  little 
more  than  the  materials  for  its  construction  ;  and  perhaps, 
in  many  instances,  in  another  part  of  the  school-building 
itself.  The  processes  for  working  in  metal  could  be 
taught  in  a  manner  as  inexpensive  as  those  in  wood,  ex- 
cept casting.  A  steam-engine  and  some  practical  hand- 
ling of  tools  and  machines,  two  or  three  hours  in  the  work- 
shop twice  a  week,  with  a  skilled  workman  for  instructor, 
would  make  an  excellent  beginning. 

Instruction  in  the  use  of  tools  is  referred  to  by  Mr. 
Philip  Magnus  in  the  following  terms  : 

There  is  another  subject  of  instruction  which,  having 
regard  to  the  future  occupations  of  the  pupils,  ought, 
in  the  opinion  of  many  educational  authorities,  to  be 
introduced  into  public  elementary  schools,  viz,  instruction 
in  the  use  of  the  more  ordinary  tools  found  in  every  work- 
shop. The  advocates  of  this  proposal  do  not  desire  that 
lessons  in  handicraft- work  should  occupy  any  part  of  the 
time  that  is  now  devoted  to  other  subjects  of  instruction, 
neither  do  they  suggest  that  such  teaching  should  take 
the  place  of  apprenticeship  to  any  trade,  nor  do  they  ex- 


258    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY, 

peet  even  that  it  would  sensibly  diminish  the  period  of 
such  apprenticeship.  They  look  to  the  disciplinary  rather  . 
than  to  the  directly  useful  influence  of  such  teaching,  and 
they  recognize  in  it  many  distinct  advantages.  Following 
on  the  Kindergarten  system  of  handicraft  exercise,  this 
instruction  would  help  still  further  to  train  the  hand  to 
the  perception  of  differences  of  size,  form,  roughness,  and 
other  qualities,  which  the  sense  of  touch,  guided  by  the 
muscular  sense  and  sight,  enable  us  to  appreciate ;  and  in 
this  way  it  would  serve  as  a  real  discipline  and  as  a  sense- 
exercise.  Morally,  it  would  teach  children,  at  an  early 
age,  that  there  is  nothing  derogatory  in  hand-work.  On 
the  contrary,  by  making  workshop  teaching  a  part  of  the 
school-instruction,  the  pupil  would  be  trained  to  recognize 
the  dignity  of  labor,  and  would  come  to  understand  that 
it  is  as  honorable  to  earn  one's  living  by  the  use  of  the 
file  as  of  the  pen.  M.  Jules  Ferry,  in  laying  the  founda- 
tion-stone of  a  professional  school  at  Vierzon,  one  day 
this  month  (1881),  is  reported  to  have  said  :  "Caste-ideas 
would  vanish  when  tools  were  found  in  schools  along- 
side of  maps  and  books ;  the  nobleness  of  manual  labor 
would  be  perceived,  and  concord  would  be  spread." 

In  pursuance  of  this  same  idea,  let  us  also  remember 
that  many  of  the  useful  arts  are  ruled  not  only  by  similar 
principles,  but  by  mechanical  apparatus  of  analogous  power 
and  mode  of  operation.  This  is  practically  exemplified 
by  the  use  of  the  lathe  in  turning,  whether  in  wood  or 
iron,  or  by  hand  or  steam-power ;  and  "  so  in  fitting  it 
always  depends  upon  a  correct  eye  and  manual  skill;  and 
the  individual  who  can  fit  a  piece  of  iron  by  means  of  the 
file  will  soon  fit  a  piece  of  wood  with  the  aid  of  plane 
and  chisel."  Attention  should  undoubtedly  be  employed 
to  press  as  many  of  these  general  mechanical  movements 
as  possible  into  the  method  of  instruction,  in  order  to  ob- 
tain a  good  execution  in  manual  operations  which  rescm- 


MANUAL  TRAINING   IN   PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  259 

ble  each  other  in  different  trades.  Mechanical  philosophy 
teaches  that  all  the  simple  mechanical  powers  are  six  in 
number ;  namely,  the  lever,  wheel  and  axle,  pulley,  wedge, 
inclined  plane,  and  screw  ;  and  that  these  simple  powers 
are  so  adjusted  as  to  produce  all  the  movements  and  com- 
binations in  all  the  vast  variety  of  intricate  machinery 
which  men  have  invented  and  constructed.*  What  is 
true  of  these  simple  powers  applies  with  the  same  force 
to  the  tools  which  men  usually  employ  in  their  labor.  It 
is  therefore  contended  that  a  true  and  full  knowledge  of 
these  simple  powers,  and  a  rudimentary  acquaintance  with 
tools  in  a  general  way,  would  be  just  the  kind  of  informa- 
tion to  enable  the  pupils  to  achieve  their  place  in  society 
and  maintain  successfully  the  battle  of  life.  Instructions 
even  of  this  elementary  character  in  the  practice  of  man- 
ual industry  would  have  changed  the  conditions  of  tens 
of  thousands  in  our  cities,  who  have  not  the  skill  or  ability 
to  work,  and  who  consequently  become  the  mere  parasites 
of  society. 

There  is  no  great  mystery  about  the  trades.  They 
are  much  easier  acquired,  and  almost  in  a  shorter  space 
of  time,  than  it  takes  to  learn  the  game  of  chess.  They 
are  all  ready  made.  The  machines  and  tools  are  invented  ; 
and  if  a  young  man  understands  how  to  use  and  how  to 
construct  them,  but  a  very  short  time  will  be  suflacient  to 
make  him  a  good  workman,  and  he  can  turn  his  hand  to 
any  trade  he  likes  best,  without  wearying  himself  out  in 
the  repulsive  drudgery  of  a  long  apprenticeship.  The 
delicate  touch  and  the  dexterous  hand  will  come  with 
practice  and  experience  ;  and  he  will  execute  and  measure 
his  work  with  the  fine  inspiration  of  its  philosophy  and 

*  Coiastock,  "  Philosopliy,"  p.  9S. 


260     EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

ingenuity.  In  tlie  prasent  organization  of  our  industries, 
there  is  no  danger  that  the  trades  will  become  glutted, 
and  that  the  standard  of  wages  will  be  reduced  by  the 
competition  of  skilled  workers,  for,  with  intelligence  in 
the  head  and  the  hand  of  labor,  occupations  will  multiply 
with  every  step  of  human  advancement.  The  fountain 
of  industrial  art  is  inexhaustible.  The  resistless  and 
matchless  progress  of  science  is  always  giving  out  some- 
thing more  to  learn  and  something  more  to  do,  and  there 
is  no  limit  to  improvement.  Think  of  the  ample  oppor- 
tunities for  work  that  spring  almost  every  day  from  the 
increasing  knowledge  of  electric  light  and  motors,  from 
electro-magnetism  and  electrotype,  the  telegraph,  the  tel- 
ephone, and  other  developments.  Scarcely  a  day  passes 
without  the  announcement  of  a  new  process  or  priDciple 
in  nature.  Skilled  employments  are  in  their  infancy. 
Applied  science  and  human  ingenuity  are  ever  elaborating 
from  the  magazines  of  Nature  new  forces,  unknown  but 
yesterday,  and  furnishing  illimitable  prospects  for  human 
industry.  And,  in  the  face  of  all  this  increasing  demand, 
American  workmen  are  scarcer  every  year.  The  tend- 
ency is  toward  the  genteel  pursuits  that  are  crammed  with 
young  men  who  can  do  nothing,  and  the  want  of  indus- 
trial skill  is  such  that  this  process  is  likely  to  go  on. 
Every  country  in  Europe  sends  its  floods  of  skilled  labor 
to  take  their  places  and  "  reduce  wages "  with  a  venge- 
ance, and  at  the  same  time  reducing  our  own  children  to 
idleness  and  its  train  of  evils.  The  affected  anxiety  of 
those  who  are  fearful  that  industrial  teaching  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  would  crowd  any  particular  trade,  is  evidently 
neither  pertinent  nor  reasonable.  It  is  altogether  too  re- 
mote a  probability,  and  the  alternative  now  presented  is. 


MANUAL   TRAINING   IN   PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  261 

whether  we  shall  adhere  to  the  existing  system  of  idleness 
and  want,  and  the  misery  and  crime  which  inevitably 
result,  to  the  exclusion  of  a  beneficent  fabric  of  practi- 
cal education  and  its  attendant  blessings  of  wealth,  skill, 
and  prosperity.  Does  it  not  seem  like  taxing  our  patience 
to  reflect  further  on  these  objections  ?  But  let  us  proceed. 
The  country  is  full  of  people  who  live  on  others'  labor, 
principally  because  they  know  nothing  of  honest  work ; 
and  we  are  not  left  to  speculate  upon  their  debasement. 
Idleness  is  their  scheme  of  life.  One  of  the  best  means 
of  eliminating  this  element  would  be  the  complementary 
training  of  mind  and  hand,  to  fit  them  for  their  duties  to 
society,  and  so  develop  their  natural  capacit}',  by  even  a 
few  months  of  rudimentary  instruction  in  the  practice 
of  tools  and  machinery.  Where  we  have  sown  in  neglect, 
we  must  expect  to  reap  the  consequences. 

It  is  seen  that  the  plan  of  manual  training  does  not 
contemplate  the  erection  of  huge  workshops  filled  with 
the  finest  and  most  expensive  machinery,  in  the  first  in- 
stance ;  or  to  secure  as  instructors  the  greatest  mechani- 
cal artists  of  the  age  ;  or  to  teach  all  the  different  kinds 
of  trade  in  a  special  manner,  and  perhaps  no  trade  at  all 
in  particular.  But  to  teach  those  branches  which  will  be 
auxiliary  to  all  practical  labor,  under  instructors  of  the  or- 
dinary school,  and  a  part  of  the  time  by  specialists,  skilled 
artisans,  engineers,  and  manufacturers,  in  shops  suited  to 
the  practice,  and  at  such  hours  as  will  not  interfere  with 
the  school-room  or  its  general  studies.  The  local  circum- 
stances of  the  school  are  also  to  be  considered.  It  is  to 
be  co-ordinate,  and  equally  entitled  to  its  hours  of  instruc- 
tion. The  subjects  to  be  taught  must  be  carefully  con- 
siderered,  and  no  doubt  much  will  depend  upon  the  arts 


262    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

and  industries  of  the  place  and  the  coexistence  of  similar 
institutions.  Much  excellent  work  can  be  accomplished 
without  disgusting  the  children,  or  expecting  them  to  be- 
come ideal  artisans.  Moderate  instructions  can  be  pro- 
vided at  the  outset,  and  such  as  will  complement  the  other 
studies  of  the  pupil  by  sliowing  their  intimate  relation. 
Study  and  work  will  go  hand  in  hand  in  honorable  com- 
panionship, and  drawing,  mechanics,  mathematics,  and 
design  will  be  wrought  out  in  the  diifercnt  objects  upon 
which  the  hand  of  labor  is  employed.  And  when  it  is 
seen  that  intuition  is  blind  until  the  hand  has  made  it 
a  fact,  and  that  ideas  are  void  until  they  are  embodied  in 
some  potential  form  through  the  trained  perfections  of 
man's  physical  powers,  the  pupils  will  be  imbued  with  a 
personal  and  disinterested  appreciation  of  the  worth  and 
dignity  of  labor. 

Technical  instruction  and  hand-work  with  tools  and 
machines,  of  a  general  cliaracter,  will  prepare  the  pupils 
for  a  very  great  variety  of  trades,  esjjecially  in  the  me- 
chanic arts.  Mr.  Leland's  industrial  school  for  hand-train- 
ing in  the  minor  arts  gives  a  sufficient  preparation  to  ena- 
ble those  attending  his  classes  to  practice  efficiently  in  fifty 
or  a  hundred  of  those  arts  after  a  few  days'  application, 
and  he  also  observes  that  all  branches  of  industry  allied 
to  ornament  are  very  easy,  and  can  generally  be  so  far 
mastered  in  a  day  by  anybody  who  can  draw  as  to  enable 
him  to  produce  a  perfectly  satisfactory  result.  The  same 
is  undoubtedly  true  of  industrial  art  generall}" ;  for  if,  in 
addition  to  a  knowledge  of  drawing  and  design,  a  young 
man  is  also  scientifically  instructed  in  the  use  of  tools  and 
in  the  action  of  machinery,  it  can  require  not  more  than 
a  few  days  or  we3ks  at  the  most  to  fit  him  in  the  com- 


MANUAL  TRAINING   IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  263 

pletest  manner  for  any  branch  of  industry  in  the  mechan- 
ic arts.  There  are  several  trades  which  might  require  a 
special  training,  and  for  which  special  schools  could  be 
provided  in  the  course  of  time ;  for  let  us  remember  that 
institutions  grow.  There  is  no  more  striking  example 
of  this  adage  than  the  contrast  presented  by  the  splen- 
did condition  of  the  common  schools,  and  the  period 
when  the  teachers  boarded  round  among  the  parents  of 
the  pupils.  A  community  of  skilled  workmen  cannot  be 
built  up  in  a  day  ;  the  foundation  must  be  laid  in  techni- 
cal training  and  in  the  gradual  process  of  experience  and 
invention.  And  this  requires  much  time,  but  it  affords 
the  best  support  of  the  state,  because  it  administers  to  the 
welfare  and  comfort  of  all  other  classes,  especially  in  a 
country  going  so  fast  in  the  direction  of  commerce  and  the 
productive  arts.  It  may  be  said  of  such  a  community,  as 
was  sung  by  Goldsmith  concerning  the  rural  population 
of  his  own  land  : 

111  fares  the  land,  to  hastening  ills  a  prey, 
Where  wealth  accumulates  and  men  decay  ; 
Princes  and  lords  may  flourish,  or  may  fade ; 
A  breath  can  make  them,  as  a  breath  has  made ; 
But  a  bold  peasantry,  their  country's  pride, 
When  once  destroyed,  can  never  be  supplied. 

Just  here  it  would  not  be  amiss  again  to  notice  the 
success  which  attends  industrial  schools  established  by  law 
in  Belgium,  Germany,  France,  and  Switzerland,  in  edu- 
cating the  people  who  are  to  live  by  their  brains  through 
the  work  of  their  hands.  In  Mr.  Stetson's  book  on  tech- 
nical education  is  a  statement  of  the  testimony  of  M. 
Rossat,  Doctor  of  Science,  and  head-master  of  an  indus- 
trial school  at  Charleville,  France,  before  the  Imperial 


264    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

Commission,  who  testifies  substantially  that  the  practical 
are  in  no  way  injurious  to  the  theoretical  studies ;  on  the 
contrary,  in  the  subjects  of  descriptive  geometry  and  in- 
dustrial drawing,  manual  labor  seems  to  stimulate  the  pu- 
pils. He  states  that  in  his  school  practical  work  in  the  shops 
and  laboratory  occupies  two  hours  a  day,  and  that  the  pu- 
pils beg  that  the  time  be  extended.  Many  of  them  possess 
great  skill.  The  shops  and  all  the  works  are  under  the 
direction  of  a  civil  engineer,  and  under  him  are  three 
foremen — one  in  the  fitting,  another  in  the  smith's,  and  a 
third  in  the  carpenter's  shop.  The  proceeds  of  the  labor 
of  the  pupils,  if  any,  go  toward  the  maintenance  of  the 
workshops.  In  the  fitting-shop,  the  most  skillful  pupils 
are  occupied  in  putting  together  a  steam-engine  to  drive 
the  machinery ;  others  are  making  models  and  parts  of 
machinery.  There  are  thirty  carpenters  and  fifty  smiths, 
besides  the  pupils  who  are  occupied  with  manipulations 
in  the  laboratory. 

This  description  applies  more  particularly  to  the  indus- 
trial school  where  trades  are  taught,  and  will  answer  for 
hundreds  of  others  in  the  countries  named.  I  select  it 
for  the  purpose  of  demonstrating  by  an  eminent  example 
that  the  mental  and  physical  powers  relating  to  skill  may 
be  concurrently  educated  with  advantage  to  both,  and 
without  realizing  any  of  the  fearful  evils  prognosticated 
by  our  American  objectors.  If  it  be  said  that  this  would 
not  apply  to  elementary  schools,  I  appeal  to  those  of 
France,  where  it  does. 

It  appears  from  the  report  of  the  Royal  Commissioners 
on  Technical  Instruction,  mentioned  in  the  last  chapter, 
that  the  ordinary  curriculum  of  instruction  in  the  French 
elementary  schools  comprises  reading,  writing,  arithmetic, 


MANUAL   TRAINING   IN   PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  265 

grammar,  geography,  the  history  of  France,  drawing,  and 
music,  and  it  is  strictly  carried  out  in  all  the  large  towns ; 
but  they  add  that  instruction  in  manual  work  has  of  late 
been  introduced  into  a  considerable  number  of  these 
schools  in  Paris.  The  manual  instruction  begins  at  the 
age  of  ten  years,  and  for  the  present  is  optional,  and  is 
given  before  and  after  the  usual  school  hours.  At  the 
time  the  commission  visited  Paris  there  were  twenty-three 
primary  schools  to  which  workshops  had  been  attached, 
ten  others  were  on  the  point  of  being  opened,  and  prepara- 
tions were  being  made  for  attaching  workshops  to  twelve 
others.  The  rooms  for  instruction  in  drawing  and  the 
workshops  in  these  schools  are  well  ventilated  and  light- 
ed. Special  inspectors  determine  the  quantity  of  work 
to  be  done,  and  judge  of  its  quality. 

The  municipal  authorities  of  several  other  towns  were 
giving  a  favorable  consideration  to  the  introduction  of 
manual  labor  into  the  ordinary  elementary  schools,  after 
the  example  of  Paris ;  and  at  Rennes  and  Marseilles  ar- 
rangements had  been  made  for  teaching  manual  work  in 
their  elementary  schools. 

There  has  been  but  one  elementary  school  in  Paris  in 
which  complete  trade-teaching  is  combined  with  ordinaiy 
instruction.  This  is  the  communal  school  of  the  Rue 
Toumefort.  There  are  three  hundred  and  sixty  children 
in  the  school.  Trade-instruction  commences  at  the  age  of 
ten  years,  and  continues  for  three  years.  In  the  third  year 
the  work  is  specialized,  some  of  the  children  being  taught 
modeling  and  carving  ;  others,  joiner's  work  and  cabinet- 
making;  others,  again,  forging  and  fitting.  In  the  high- 
est class  they  have  eighteen  hours  per  week  in  the  shops, 
besides  instruction  in  drawing,  geometry,  and  natural  sci- 


2GC    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

ence.  The  children  on  leaving  school  are  generally  pre- 
pared to  practice  a  trade,  and  find  ready  employment. 
So  strongly  are  the  pupils  interested,  that  technical  work- 
shops have  been  fitted  up  in  many  others  of  the  Paris 
schools  during  the  holidays,  to  enable  the  pupils  on  leav- 
ing to  become  skilled  workmen  after  a  short  apprentice- 
ship. 

The  manual  instruction  thus  introduced  into  element- 
ary schools  is  confined  to  advanced  drawing  from  models, 
and  the  use  of  the  ordinary  tools  in  working  wood  and 
metal,  without  attempting  to  teach  special  trades.  They 
are  therefore  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  apprentice- 
ship-schools proper,  of  which  that  of  La  Yalette  is  the 
type ;  or  like  the  great  school  at  Creuzot,  to  form  skilled 
workmen  for  the  business  firm  by  which  it  has  been  estab- 
lished ;  or  like  the  watch-makers'  school  in  Paris,  designed 
for  a  particular  manufacture.  In  this  connection,  we 
ought  not  to  overlook  recent  legislation  in  France  relating 
to  handicraft  in  elementary  schools.  The  first  article  of 
the  law  of  1880  places  apprenticeship-schools  in  the  cat- 
egory of  primary  instruction.  A  commission  appointed 
to  prepare  a  programme  of  instruction  conformable  to  the 
provisions  of  the  act,  considered  that  teaching  particular 
trades  should  be  avoided  in  the  primary  schools,  but  rec- 
ommended a  series  of  manual  exercises  intended  to  de- 
velop the  children's  skill  of  hand — such  as  object-lessons, 
drawing,  modeling,  and  the  characteristics  of  wood  and 
the  common  metals ;  and  upon  reaching  the  upper  class, 
at  the  age  of  twelve,  in  addition  to  these  exercises,  the 
pupils  should  study,  two  houi'S  per  day,  various  tools  used 
in  working  wood,  and  the  construction  of  articles  in  that 
material,  making  the  lessons  both  practical  and  theoreti- 


MANUAL  TRAINING   IN  PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  267 

cal ;  also  the  study  of  tools  used  in  working  metals  in  the 
same  manner,  with  exercising  in  filing,  smoothing,  and. 
finishing  rough  forgings  or  castings.  The  practical  work 
is  carried  on  in  shops  annexed  to  the  schools,  and  is  well 
calculated,  to  discover  the  special  aptitude  of  the  pupil 
for  the  work  for  which  he  is  best  fitted,  whether  requiring 
precision  or  taste,  or  for  trades  dependent  upon  mathe- 
matical knowledge,  and,  if  not  gifted  wath  such  excel- 
lences, whether  he  can  perform  useful  work  requiring  less 
ability. 

After  the  primary,  comes  the  apprenticeship-school 
proper,  in  which  it  is  proposed  only  to  teach  the  parent- 
industries,  or  those  which  resemble  each  other  in  the  tools 
they  employ  and  the  mechanical  principles  they  involve. 
The  superior  primary  school  is  the  last  of  the  series  for 
technological  education  of  a  high  order. 

Thus  we  see  that  France  felt  itself  under  the  same 
necessity  as  its  neighbors  to  make  the  utmost  exertion  to 
preserve  its  useful  arts,  and  to  increase  their  number  to 
the  greatest  extent  possible.  Almost  every  trade  was 
suffering  from  the  inevitable  decay  of  the  old  system  of 
learning  it.  The  following  is  the  tenor  of  a  passage  from 
the  report  of  H.  Tolman,  senator,  to  the  Prefect  of  the 
Seine : 

Again,  the  workshops  where  private  industries  are 
conducted  no  longer,  except  in  a  few  rare  instances,  adopt 
the  system  of  a  true  apprenticeship.  The  majority  of 
manufacturers  have  given  up  taking  apprentices ;  the 
lads  they  employ  are  set  to  a  special  class  of  work,  often 
of  the  most  insignificant  kind,  receive  remuneration  from 
the  first,  and,  by  mutual  consent  of  the  parents  and  em- 
ployer, the  contract  of  apprenticeship  is  abandoned  for 
one  of  hire. 


268    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

A  revolution  of  this  nature  in  the  methods  of  produc- 
tion threatens  above  all  the  prosperity  of  French  industry, 
and  more  particularly  the  welfare  of  that  of  Paris. 

Now,  it  is  more  particularly  in  the  parent-industries, 
comprising  various  trades  or  specialties  having  numer- 
ous points  of  resemblance,  the  work  in  which  is  of  a  simi- 
lar character  and  renders  necessary,  to  a  great  extent,  the 
same  class  of  tools,  that  the  system  of  apprenticeship  is 
gradually  disappearing,  while  employers  are  powerless  to 
remedy  the  evil,  however  sincere  may  be  their  desire  to 
do  so.  For  these  great  industries,  the  only  means  of 
raising  the  standard  of  technical  knowledge  is  the  estab- 
lishment of  apprenticeship-schools. 

Animated  with  a  desire  to  avert  a  condition  so  ruin- 
ous to  the  moral  and  material  interests  of  the  people,  the 
city  of  Paris  and  the  Government  of  France  have  re- 
sorted to  the  policy  of  industrial  education,  as  altogether 
the  best  remedy  which  experience  and  practical  results 
have  yet  devised.  Opinions  to  the  same  effect  have  been 
formed  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  by  many  persons  who 
are  fully  competent  to  form  an  opinion  from  having  de- 
voted themselves  with  the  greatest  attention  to  this  ques- 
tion. Take,  for  example,  the  conclusions  of  the  Boston 
School  Committee,  perhaps  the  most  distinguished  author- 
ity on  educational  questions  in  the  United  States,  and 
who  report  tliat  they  believe  industrial  training,  or  the 
training  of  the  hand  and  eye,  and  thereby  the  mind  as 
well,  is  an  invaluable  element  of  education,  and  deserves 
recognition  and  support ;  and,  while  they  express  an  opin- 
ion adverse  to  teaching  actual  trades  in  elementary  schools 
in  a  complete  manner  or  extent,  still  they  recommend 
teaching  the  minor  arts  as  in  the  industrial  schools  in 
Cambridge,  Gloucester,  and  Boston,  wherein  it  is  proved 


MANUAL   TRAINING   IN   PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  269 

that  courses  in  industrial  training  may  be  devised  suited 
for  different  ages,  and  that  such  training  might  begin  in 
the  primary  schools,  and  be  continued  in  the  grammar- 
schools,  possibly  even  further,  to  correspond  with  the 
literary  training  given  in  the  high-schools.  As  to  whether 
the  proposed  industrial  training  would  interfere  with  the 
other  studies,  they  quote  an  authority  on  the  "  half-time  " 
system  of  education,  which  says,  "  There  is  a  special  mu- 
tual influence  between  the  school  and  the  factory  which 
improves  the  quality  of  the  work  done  in  both."  And, 
in  conclusion,  the  committee  express  a  feeling  in  favor  of 
introducing  into  the  public  school  ample  and  fundamental 
industrial  training,  for  they  believe  that  such  training  is 
an  invaluable  element  of  education,  suited  to  develop  and 
help  all,  whatever  their  future  career. 

These  views  are  of  momentous  importance.  They 
come  from  the  commercial  and  industrial  emporium  of 
that  part  of  the  country  which  is  most  interested  in  the 
subject,  and  they  recognize  the  want  of  industrial  train- 
ing which  now  exists  and  oppresses  industry,  but  they  also 
recognize  the  necessity  and  feasibility  of  introducing  it 
as  a  fundamental  element  in  public  instruction. 

Mr.  Edward  T.  Steel,  President  of  the  Board  of  Pub- 
lic Education  for  the  City  of  Pliiladelphia,  in  his  annual 
report  of  1881,  is  not  less  emphatic  in  his  devotion  to  in- 
dustrial education.  In  his  opinion,  manual  and  intellect- 
ual education  should  be  regarded  as  equally  necessary  to 
the  welfare  and  safety  of  the  state,  and  should  command 
equal  opportunity  of  acquisition  ;  and  it  seems  more  essen- 
tial to  him  that  the  knowledge  of  a  trade  or  occupation 
should  be  acquired  before  arriving  at  manhood,  for  intel- 
lectual training  may  cover  every  period   of  a  lifetime. 


270    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

He  holds  that  there  is  no  kind  of  ignorance  more  to  he 
feared  by  our  social  and  political  institutions  than  that 
which  knows  no  handicraft  or  special  occupation  upon 
which  it  may  depend  for  the  necessaries  of  life.  When  il- 
literacy is  joined  with  untutored  hands,  a  type  of  human- 
ity is  reached  more  dangerous  than  the  uncivilized  subjects 
of  barbarous  tribes.  He  alludes  to  the  public  disorders, 
when  recently  the  most  desperate  and  reckless  of  that 
class  assailed  the  business  enterprises  of  the  country  ;  and 
to  the  fact  that  few  of  those  who  composed  the  alarming 
mobs  had  any  knowledge  of  skilled  employment,  when  it 
is  equally  true  that  during  that  season  of  business  stagna- 
tion, as  a  rule,  the  regular  trades  and  skilled  occupations 
afforded  a  fair  living  support.  The  fact,  he  says,  is  be- 
coming better  understood  that,  unless  education  embraces 
manual  as  well  as  mental  training,  it  will  fail  for  want  of 
thoroughness,  and  that,  when  the  intellectual  attainments 
which  properly  belong  to  the  trades  are  made  to  lead  into 
them,  they  will  rank  first  among  the  occupations  as  prac- 
tical results  due  to  the  above  theories  and  principles. 

These  observations  come  from  the  right  quarter,  for 
the  growth  and  riches  of  Philadelphia  depend  almost  en- 
tirely upon  her  varied  and  numerous  industries.  She  has 
become  great  and  populous  from  the  spoils  of  labor. 
There  was  a  fitness  in  her  owning  the  first  school  of  art- 
industry  established  in  any  American  city — that  already 
adverted  to  in  the  Hollingsworth  Building — which  has 
seized  upon  public  favor,  and  is  becoming  identified  with 
the  needs  and  tendencies  of  her  useful  arts.  Without 
doubt  its  influence  will  be  great,  for  it  will  lead  to  similar 
institutions,  as  the  living  representation  of  its  industry. 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

Application  of  experience — Speculative  improvement  tardy — Franklin's  dis- 
covery not  applied  for  one  hundred  years — Industrial  education  in  the 
United  States  rendered  simple — Classification  of  industrial  schools  into 
three  kinds — Each  described — The  developing  plan  of  Ruggles — The 
one  for  teaching  mechanic  art  recommended,  and  the  reasons  stated — 
Public  education  a  fundamental  maxim — It  ought  to  be  for  the  great- 
est number — Manual  training  in  public  schools — Law  in  Massachusetts 
— The  great  body  of  the  people  employed — Education  should,  therefore, 
form  an  ability  for  the  business  of  life — Intellectual  training  at  the 
expense  of  manual  and  social  virtue — Division  of  labor,  and  develop- 
ment of  art — The  children  and  their  employment — Mr.  MacAlister's 
address — Inexpensiveness  of  industrial  education  shown — Absolute  ne- 
cessity of  manual  training — Education  at  public  expense — Reliance  on 
the  state — Form  of  government  depends  upon  people — How  children 
are  taught — In  an  ignorant  society  man  becomes  debased — Education 
should  be  for  useful  purpose — Multiplicity  of  employments,  and  the 
inducement  to  self-perfection — Training  the  great  mass  of  workers  a 
matter  of  life  or  death — Illustrations — Its  proper  place  allotted  it — 
Eichard  Grant  White — Special  trades  not  favored  in  public  schools 
— Working-people  not  opposed  to  the  manual  element  in  education — 
The  reason  why  they  should  not  be  unfriendly  to  it — Spring  Garden  In- 
stitute— Examples  of  working-men  receiving  instruction — Night-schools 
attended  by  working-people  for  studies  relating  to  industry — Encourage- 
ment from  extensive  firms  and  corporations  illustrated  by  an  example 
— Opportunities  for  industrial  education — Industrial  establishments 
willing  to  aid — Object  of  industrial  education — Wendell  Phillips — Lord 
Brougham's  remark — Professor  Smith's  views — Views  of  the  Boston 
School  Committee — Expenditure  in  the  £cole  municipal  tV Apprentis — 
Effect  on  Paris — Graduates  of  our  schools — Professor  Runkle's  views 
— Mechanic  art  of  wide  application — Confers  mental  discipline  and  in- 
creases the  mental  powers. 

I  HAVE  thus  glanced  at  the  experience  of  this  and 
other  countries,  to  show  that  theoretical  views  on  this  sub- 


272    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

ject  have  been  practically  illustrated  in  a  great  variety  of 
examples.  Induction  is  an  application  of  recognized  facts 
of  greater  or  less  generality.  A  mere  logical  demonstra- 
tion of  a  question  has  a  charm  for  the  mind  because  it  is 
60  satisfactory,  but  an  experimental  verification  fills  both 
the  mind  and  the  senses  with  a  living  proof  which  sur- 
passes simple  reason  or  logic,  because  it  involves  the  facts 
of  sensibility  as  well  as  those  of  intelligence.  "When  we 
rely  solely  upon  the  speculative  powers  of  the  mind,  im- 
provements creep  tardily  along,  notwithstanding  man's 
ingenuity  or  necessities.  It  was  not  until  the  lapse  of  one 
hundred  years  after  Franklin  had  discovered  the  perfect 
conductibility  of  the  electric  fluid  that  a  galvanic  current 
was  found  to  transmit  signals  at  a  distance.  The  best 
method  of  practical  wisdom  is  to  profit  by  the  experience 
of  others,  and  industrial  education  in  the  United  States  is 
rendered  a  problem  much  more  simple  by  the  comparative 
ease  with  which  it  has  been  introduced  into  public  schools 
elsewhere,  and  by  the  gratifying  results  which  have  at- 
tended it :  they  go  far  to  overthrow  the  objections  set 
down  against  its  practicability. 

Industrial  schools  ought  to  be  distinguished  into  three 
kinds  or  classes,  according  to  the  object  for  which  they 
are  intended : 

First.  If  instruction  is  to  be  given  with  reference  to 
a  particular  trade  or  trades,  the  studies  should  be  special, 
and  such  as  belong  to  an  apprenticeship  proper.  There 
are  a  number  of  such  schools  abroad,  but  it  is  doubted 
whether  there  is  one  of  this  kind  in  the  United  States, 
unless  in  the  Indian  schools  at  Hampton  and  Carlisle. 

Second,  is  the  art-industry  school,  or  such  as  give  in- 
struction in  art  as  applied  to  industry.     This  is  more  espe- 


MANUAL  TRAINING  IN  PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  273 

cially  devoted  to  drawing,  designing,  modeling,  and  the 
natural  sciences.  These  promote  the  general  culture  of 
the  people,  and  improve  manufactures  by  making  them 
artistic  and  salable.  Within  a  few  years  the  economic 
value  of  such  schools  has  been  a  marked  feature  in  Brit- 
ish industry,  and  has  remedied  imperfections  in  every 
branch  of  useful  art. 

Third  and  lastly  come  those  which  are  not  special,  but 
prepare  the  pupils  for  work  generally,  according  to  their 
ability  and  inclination,  throughout  the  entire  industrial 
field.  Here  they  are  taught  in  the  principles  of  mech- 
anism and  in  the  tools  commonly  used  in  all  the  trades. 
Perhaps  it  is  difficult  to  define  what  constitutes  an  indus- 
trial education  of  this  last  kind  in  a  public  school ;  but 
one  may  state,  in  a  general  way,  that  it  means  a  school 
apart  from  the  ordinary  one,  where  all  things  bearing  upon 
industrial  pursuits  are  taught.  This  includes  the  proper- 
ties of  bodies,  the  rudiments  of  natural  philosophy,  draw- 
ing, and  design.  There  must  also  be  shops  where  techni- 
cal knowledge  is  acquired  by  practical  instruction  with 
machinery  and  tools,  beginning  with  the  easiest  and  least 
expensive,  and  enlarging  the  work  until  all  the  leading 
principles  and  employments  in  what  Senator  Tolain  so 
aptly  terms  the  parent-industries  have  been  generalized 
in  the  course  of  instruction.  The  pupil,  when  this  is 
done,  can  turn  to  any  kind  of  business  for  which  he  is 
most  fitted,  and  a  very  few  days  will  be  sufficient  to  spe- 
cialize his  work  in  any  of  the  ordinary  trades  of  a  mechan- 
ic. We  are  learning  experience  in  the  practical  working 
of  this  class  of  school  by  what  we  have  noticed  in  Phila- 
delphia, Montclair,  Washington,  and  elsewhere,  for  there 

we  find  industrial  schools,  if   not  in  name  at  least  in 
13 


274    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

reality  ;  and  they  show  that  these  studies  are  suited  to 
children  of  twelve  years  and  upward,  and  even  excite 
their  zeal  and  devotion  in  the  w^ork.  The  theorists  who 
call  for  specialists  will  be  disappointed,  because  an  artisan 
of  a  particular  trade  is  not  turned  out.  This  is  not  the 
plan  of  the  school.  It  professes  to  furnish  the  pupil  only 
with  such  general  knowledge  as  will  give  him  the  key  to 
all  his  abilities  in  any  department  of  work  where  he  can 
labor  the  best.  The  industrial  field  is  before  him ;  nor 
will  he  hold  the  tenure  of  his  pursuit  by  the  thread  of  a 
single  accomplishment  which  interdicts  him  from  all  other 
vocations.  On  the  contrary,  he  can  exercise  the  essen- 
tial skill  of  many  employments,  and  may  improve  the  one 
to  W'hich  he  devotes  himself  by  reason  of  his  technic  in- 
formation. There  is  little  danger  that  he  will  ever  pre- 
sent the  unedifying  spectacle  of  a  toady,  a  Bohemian,  or 
an  impecunious  journeyman.  It  is  believed  that  this  third 
kind  of  school  has  many  distinguishing  merits.  It  has 
the  great  advantage  of  superiority  in  point  of  simplicity, 
and  of  facility  in  general  arrangement  in  practical  opera- 
tions, and  is  probably  the  form  best  adapted  for  manual 
training  in  the  public  schools  of  the  United  States. 

It  is  proper  here  to  notice  the  Developing  school  and 
the  Manual  Institute  suggested  by  Mr.  S.  P.  Ruggles, 
which  have  attracted  the  favorable  attention  of  the  Ameri- 
can Social  Science  Association.  The  first  of  these  is  a 
fully  equipped  school-shop  in  which  the  pupil  is  to  ac- 
quire an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  principles  and  opera- 
tions of  all  trades,  by  means  of  which  practice  his  pecul- 
iar aptitudes  will  be  developed,  and  he  can  then  be  well 
advised  of  the  profession  for  which  he  is  best  suited. 
After  this,  the  pupil  is  to  enter  the  Manual  Institute, 


MANUAL   TRAINING   IX   PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  275 

where  lie  will  be  instructed  in  his  chosen  occupation  in 
the  most  effectual  and  profitable  manner.  The  first  of 
these  is  only  a  beginning  to  lead  the  pupil  to  understand 
himself,  and  to  give  a  right  direction  to  his  choice  of  a 
profession  ;  then  the  Manual  Institute  combines  with  this 
a  special  training  of  all  his  faculties  in  acquiring  that  par- 
ticular trade.* 

*  The  developing  school  is  described  by  Mr.  Ruggles,  the  originator,  as 
follows : 

"Imagine,  if  you  please,  one  very  large  room,  with  a  steam-engine  and 
boiler  in  the  middle  of  it,  so  that  all  pupils  that  have  any  taste  for  the  man- 
agement of  steam,  or  steam-engines,  could  examine  every  point,  and  readily 
understand  it.  Then  a  carpenter's  bench,  with  a  variety  of  tools,  to  show 
how  that  work  is  done;  then,  perhaps,  turning-lathes,  to  show  how  the 
wood-turning  business  is  performed  ;  then,  with  the  aid  of  black-boards  and 
carving-tools,  it  might  be  seen  how  drawing  is  done.  We  should  also  have 
planing  -  machines,  lathes,  upright  drills,  jig-saws,  etc.,  to  represent  the 
machinist  business.  Foundry-work  could  be  shown  by  having  the  usual 
fixtures  for  sand,  and  two  and  three  part  flasks  for  molding ;  the  casting 
could  be  done  in  soft  metals,  as  lead,  zinc,  or  tin,  which  could  be  re-used, 
as  the  whole  art  in  foundry-work  consists  in  the  different  modes  of  mold- 
ing. We  would  have  a  printing-press,  type,  and  fixtures,  to  illustrate  the 
printing  business. 

"Mason-work,  the  laying  of  brick  (to  some  extent),  stucco-work,  the 
working  in  plaster  of  Paris,  could  be  shov,'n ;  the  whole  room  being  filled 
with  educational  instruments  of  instruction,  such  as  three  different  heights 
of  barometers,  the  bellows-valve,  the  gyroscope,  the  ball  on  the  top  of  a  jet 
of  water,  the  steam-injector — all  to  lead  out  the  thoughts  of  the  pupil,  ena- 
bling the  superintendent  to  ascertain  the  true  bent  or  natural  genius  of  the 
youth,  so  that  he  should  be  sent  to  the  right  department  in  the  Manual  In- 
stitute, and  thoroughly  instructed  in  his  chosen  art." 

The  Manual  Institute  is  mentioned  in  these  terms  by  him : 

"As  soon  as  it  should  be  ascertained  by  the  Developing  school  for  what 
kind  of  business  the  pupil  is  best  fitted,  he  would  be  sent  to  the  Manual 
Institute  where  his  chosen  trade  was  taught,  and  be  more  thoroughly  in- 
structed in  two  years'  daily  instruction  than  by  six  or  seven  years  under 
the  old  apprentice  system. 

*'  A  machine-shop  in  the  Manual  Institute,  fitted  up  for  the  purpose  of 


27G    EDUCATION  IX  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

Having  thus  stated  the  different  forms  of  industrial 
schools  which  seem  to  have  any  claim  to  consideration, 
the  question  occurs,  which  one  of  them  would  be  most 
suitable  for  general  us3  in  our  public  schools.  It  is 
claimed  that  the  last  one  of  the  three  classified  above  has 
several  advantages  for  that  purpose.  It  seems  quite  clear 
that  the  choice  ought  to  fall  on  that  one,  or  on  the  plan 
suggested  by  Mr.  Kuggles.  A  careful  comparison  will 
show,  I  think,  that,  while  the  latter  has  great  intrinsic 
value,  the  former  has  the  merit  of  simplicity,  inexpen- 
siveness,  and  organization.  These  are  considerations  of 
no  small  importance  with  those  who  are  willing  to  pro- 
mote industrial  education,  but  do  not  deem  it  prudent  or 
expedient  greatly  to  increase  the  public  burden,  already 
so  great.  It  is  obvious  that  two  schools,  as  contemplated 
in  the  developing  plan,  would  double  the  cost  and  ex- 
pense, or  at  least  increase  them  to  such  a  degree  as  to 
render  it  appalling  to  the  constituency.  It  is  too  institu- 
tional and  cumbersome  for  a  beo-inning.  In  the  other 
school  the  same  ends  will  be  secured,  for  the  leading 
principles    of  business   will   be    carefully   pursued   and 

teaclung  a  trade,  would  contain  every  tool  and  appliance  that  is  used  in 
any  machine-shop,  so  that  the  student  would  become  acquainted  with  every 
manner  of  doing  work,  and  with  the  management  of  every  kind  of  tool  or 
device  used  in  machine-shops,  doing  every  variety  of  machine- work ;  and 
each  pupil  would  be  taught  to  make  the  whole,  and  put  together  every  ma- 
chine or  article  that  was  manufactured. 

"  In  the  Manual  Institute  the  pupil  would  advance  from  a  lower  degree 
of  instruction  to  a  higher  as  rapidly  as  his  thorough  knowledge  and  good 
workmanship  would  justify.  The  instructors  would  be  paid  a  satisfactory 
salary,  and  not  be  permitted  to  make  merchandise  of  the  time  of  the  stu- 
dents. All  articles  made  by  the  students  could  be  disposed  of  by  sale,  and 
the  proceeds  appropriated  toward  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  school- 


MANUAL  TRAINIXG  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  277 

wrouglit  into  tlie  understanding  by  familiar  illustrations 
and  repeated  exercises,  and  tlie  eye  and  hand  trained  to 
habits  of  accuracy  and  skillful  manipulation,  until  it  will 
require  but  little  reflection  to  discern  the  peculiar  bent  of 
the  pupil's  genius,  and  the  profession  most  appropriate 
for  his  abilities.  This  will  save  a  world  of  expense,  of 
labor  and  inconvenience,  and  at  the  same  time  will  be 
fully  sufficient  to  qualify  him  to  enter  upon  his  business 
with  the  best  possible  means  of  success.  While  the  de- 
veloping plan  is  fuller  in  its  preliminary  exercises,  these 
are  soon  specialized  to  a  particular  calling ;  the  other  is 
far  superior  in  its  economy  of  time  and  means,  and  in  that 
fullness  and  generality  which  characterize  its  arrangement 
in  teaching  all  the  principles  and  operations  analogous  to 
each  other  in  mechanic  art.  Surely  the  pupils  would  have 
a  better  chance  in  life  than  if  they  were  only  accomplished 
in  one  direction. 

I  have  incidentally  remarked  upon  the  duty  of  the 
State  to  establish  and  maintain  schools  for  industrial  edu- 
cation by  appropriations  of  public  revenue.  It  seems  de- 
sirable to  advert  to  the  subject  again  in  order  that  the 
legal  status  of  such  schools  may  be  fairly  understood. 
That  the  public  ought  to  provide  for  the  education 
of  the  people  is  a  fundamental  maxim  in  this  country. 
It  is  conlirmed  in  numerous  State  Constitutions,  and  is 
consecrated  in  our  jurisprudence.  The  general  principle 
being  settled,  the  question  is  asked,  What  kind  of  edu- 
cation ought  to  be  provided,  and  how  far  ought  it  to  go 
in  improving  the  children  ?  The  answer  is  obvious.  It 
ought  to  be  for  the  greatest  number,  and  to  consist  of 
such  branches  of  study  as  can  be  applied  for  some  practi- 
cal and  useful  purpose  in  the  life  to  which  the  pupil  is 


278    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY; 

destined,  and  in  the  duties  of  a  citizen  to  which  the  law 
invites  him.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  this  is  scarcely  sup- 
plied by  what  is  now  understood  to  be  a  common-school 
education  ;  and  it  is  for  the  voters  in  the  cities  and  school 
districts  to  determine  whether  the  instruction  afforded 
to  their  children  may  not  be  varied  and  extended  to 
branches  of  knowledge  of  a  practical  and  manual  charac- 
ter. Unless  the  Legislature  has  restricted  the  studies  to  be 
taught,  the  people  through  the  school  boards  or  trustees 
have  a  right  to  furnish  manual  training  to  all  the  youth 
in  the  schools,  or  at  least  to  put  it  within  the  reach  of  -alt 
classes  who  may  desire  it.  In  Massachusetts,  the  amend- 
ments to  laws  relating  to  public  schools  authorize  the 
city  council  of  any  city  and  any  town  to  establish  and 
maintain  one  or  more  industrial  schools,  and  to  raise  and 
appropriate  the  money  necessary  to  render  them  efficient ; 
and,  no  doubt,  the  Legislatures  of  other  States  would  feel 
bound  to  conform  to  any  popular  demand  for  similar  en- 
actments. The  present  appears  to  be  the  opportune  mo- 
ment to  call  public  attention,  which  is  already  aroused, 
more  particularly  to  the  subject,  since  industry  is  in  a 
transition  state,  and  some  means  must  be  devised  by  w^hich 
it  can  be  taught  in  view  of  present 'conditions  and  future 
prospects. 

The  great  body  of  the  people  have  to  spend  most  of 
their  lives  in  the  exercise  of  some  employment.  The 
number  of  those  who  can  exist  without  work  is  inconsid- 
erable. Aside  from  the  common  laborers,  all  the  others 
become  artisans,  manufacturers,  merchants,  farmers,  or 
tiock  into  the  professions.  Education  should,  therefore, 
be  directed  to  form  in  them  the  ability  and  knowledge 
which  their  business  life  requires,  or  at  least  to  such  an 


MANUAL   TRAINING   IN   PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  2T9 

extent  as  tlie  art  of  teaching  will  admit  of.  It  should 
render  them  capable  of  exerting  their  intelligence  and 
training  in  the  situation  they  are  to  occupy.  The  lawyer, 
the  physician,  and  the  engineer  gain  instant  assistance 
from  their  studies,  but  the  school-boy  reaps  scarcely  a 
personal  advantage,  for  the  training  of  his  intellectual 
powers  has  been,  carried  on  at  the  expense  of  his  manual 
and  social  virtues  ;  and  on  leaving  school  he  runs  to  and 
fro,  seeking  something  or  anything  to  do,  scarcely  a  self- 
existent  being. 

The  prodigious  development  in  the  useful  arts  has  in- 
troduced a  division  of  labor  almost  endless  in  its  variety, 
with  an  infinity  of  occupations,  and  such  as  require  an 
extraordinary  degree  of  technic  knowledge  in  both  the 
hands  and  the  head  ;  and  the  improvement  of  all  manu- 
factured articles  has  undergone  a  surprising  development 
in  every  country  with  which  we  have  extended  commer- 
cial relations.  The  nide  system  of  apprenticeship  has  been 
superseded  by  technical  training.  What  are  you  going 
to  do  with  the  children  ?  Their  parents  are  generally 
poor,  and  have  not  much  time  or  means  to  spare  for  their 
education.  And,  perhaps,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  they 
can  but  illy  provide  for  their  subsistence  during  infancy. 
You  say,  send  them  to  a  trade,  which  many  of  them  would 
gladly  do,  but  for  the  difficulty  if  not  impossibility  in  the 
present  state  of  things  in  finding  one.  Says  Mr.  MacAl- 
ister,  in  the  address  already  mentioned  :  "  Stand  on  Cen- 
tral Bridge,  in  the  city  of  Milwaukee,  at  six  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  and  see  the  thousands  and  thousands,  not  only 
of  boys,  but  also  of  little  girls,  with  their  baskets  in  their 
hands,  going  home  from  their  day's  work.  They  left 
their  humble  homes  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning ;  they 


280    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

had  their  hmcheon  with  them,  and  at  six  o'clock  they  are 
on  their  way  home.  They  have  had  all  the  education 
their  jDarents  could  afford  to  give  them."  And  he  adds  that 
this  ideal  form  of  education  will  not  do,  after  all,  for  the 
demands  of  the  present  time.  Why,  then,  let  us  ask,  not 
give  them  an  opportunity  to  acquire,  or  at  least  to  tit 
themselves  for  afterward  acquiring,  the  trade  or  profes- 
sion by  which  they  are  to  support  themselves  ?  For  a 
very  small  expense  the  public  can  facilitate  and  afford  to 
the  whole  body  of  the  people  the  means  of  acquiring  the 
most  essential  parts  of  an  industrial  education.  Do  you 
ask  what  interest  can  the  State  have  in  furnishing  to 
every  child  instruction  that  will  enable  him  to  follow  a 
trade?  Labor  is  the  fundamental  condition  of  society 
and  the  fountain  of  its  intelligence  and  wealth.  But 
perhaps  the  best  answer  is  to  be  found  in  the  condition  of 
our  industries,  which  can  no  longer  prosper  without  the 
aid  of  science  and  art.  Manual  training  is  necessary  in 
order  to  prevent  them  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  for- 
eigners, or  their  entire  degeneration  in  our  own  unskilled 
management ;  and  it  is  now  recognized  and  maintained 
in  every  civilized  society  as  a  most  vital  and  important 
branch  of  public  education. 

"  The  people  have  learned  that  industrial  training  of 
their  children  is  the  fountain  of  their  prosperity,  and  pre- 
fer elementary  schools  to  prisons,  and  trade  and  technical 
schools  to  workhouses  and  emigration,  and  school-rates  to 
poor-rates."  If  the  right  of  the  State  to  suppress  idle- 
ness as  it  does  ignorance,  and  to  afford  a  real  education 
as  it  does  an  ideal  one,  is  denied,  then  there  is  small  hope 
that  that  work  will  ever  be  maintained  by  private  enter- 
prise.    No  system  of  education  for  the  body  of  the  peo- 


MANUAL  TRAINING   IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  281 

pie  lias  ever  been  able  to  exist  except  at  the  public  ex- 
pense. The  educational  aptitude  and  strenuous  industry 
of  the  American  people  have  been  paid  for  by  taxation. 
The  States  have  made  the  general  laws,  and  local  boards 
have  prescribed  the  studies  and  raised  the  means.  It  is 
in  vain  to  expect  a  system  of  industrial  education  unless 
either  the  State  or  the  locality  shall  bear  the  expense. 
Even  in  a  country  so  remarkable  for  its  general  benevo- 
lence as  the  United  States,  where  thousands  of  individu- 
als devote  their  time  and  money  to  relieve  distress,  is  it 
not  to  be  wondered  at  that  this  philanthropy,  which  em- 
braces every  form  of  charity,  has  done  so  little  to  promote 
industrial  education,  although  it  is  founded  in  the  intel- 
lectual, the  moral,  and  physical  worth  of  our  nature? 

It  is  said  that,  when  everything  is  expected  from  the 
State,  the  temptation  is  very  strong  to  demand  from  it 
the  realization  of  all  the  hopes  founded  upon  its  "  omnip- 
otent action  "  ;  and  that  self-reliance  and  a  feeling  of  inde- 
pendence, which  produce  all  that  is  good  and  noble,  are 
never  so  well  assured  as  when  each  person  counts  least 
upon  the  Government.  These  are  among  the  general 
opinions  wliich  in  this  country  we  all  accept,  and  yet  we 
must  all  acknowledge  that  no  one  influence  prepares  each 
character  for  an  intense  and  vigorous  individuality  better 
than  the  education  we  ought  to  receive ;  and,  when  this 
education  is  suited  to  the  condition  and  wants  of  the  peo- 
ple, they  become  independent  beings,  perfectly  able  to 
take  care  of  themselves.  Children  cannot  be  made  the 
bases  of  a  system  of  individualism. 

The  form  of  government  depends  upon  the  amount 
of  knowledge  which  the  people  have  acquired.  An  igno- 
rant man  is  incapable  of  a  form  of  government  based  up- 


282    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

on  intelligence,  for  it  is  not  suited  to  his  condition.  But, 
as  he  grows  in  knowledge,  he  needs  less  and  less  the  con- 
trol of  law,  until  he  is  sufficiently  advanced  to  enjoy  in- 
stitutions which  impose  the  least  possible  restraint  upon 
his  freedom  and  independence.  He  then  displays  that 
refinement  and  intrepidity  which  we  contemplate  with 
unspeakable  sympathies.  Education  is  now  carried  by 
votes  of  popular  suffrage,  and  is  connected  with  the  Gov- 
ernment as  the  most  immensely  important  institution 
under  its  care.  Here  the  child  is  taught.  He  is  helpless, 
and  has  everything  to  learn.  He  believes  what  he  is  told, 
and  obeys  without  being  able  to  exercise  his  own  reason  ; 
but  as  the  bud  contains  within  itself  all  that  constitutes 
the  fruit,  so  does  he  all  that  belongs  to  man.  If,  however, 
he  is  permitted  to  grow  up  into  a  man  without  instruc- 
tion, the  most  groveling  and  debasing  tendencies  will  be 
likely  to  sway  the  whole  course  of  his  life.  In  a  society 
where  ignorance  prevails  one  man  differs  but  little  from 
another;  there  can  be  but  a  limited  stock  of  ideas  to 
kindle  their  intelligence;  each  one  spends  his  time  in 
performing  the  drudgery  of  his  station,  and  is  as  incapable 
of  appreciating  the  communication  of  knowledge  as  he  is 
of  feeling  any  noble  sentiment  or  aspiration.  He  becomes 
as  little  like  a  man  as  possible,  and  subsides  into  stoical 
indifference  and  stupid  inactivity,  or  pales  and  trembles 
in  mortal  fear  and  superstition.  Education  is  therefore 
dependent  upon  the  State,  which  is  bound  to  see  that  it  is 
provided  for  every  child  that  it  can  reach.  It  exerts  an 
influence  beyond  the  mere  discipline  of  the  school-room, 
in  the  elevation  of  life  and  character,  and  develops  the 
peculiar  characteristics  and  brightness  of  the  individual. 
I  take  it  that  every  part  of  that  education  should  tend 


MANUAL  TRAINING  IN   PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  283 

to  some  useful  purpose,  and,  as  nearly  all  of  tlie  pupils 
will  be  compelled  to  earn  a  living,  it  should  improve  the 
faculty  which  will  render  them  able  to  meet  this  supreme 
necessity,  and  teach  those  branches  of  knowledge  in  which 
they  have  the  deepest  interest.  In  the  great  multiplicity 
of  employments,  and  the  sharp  competition  which  they 
engender,  every  workman  is  called  upon  to  exert  his  ca- 
pacity to  open  up  new  views  of  his  art,  and  thus  contribute 
to  the  progress  of  his  industry.  Invention  is  on  the  alert, 
and  every  man  has  the  strongest  inducements  to  self-per- 
fection. The  artisan  is  no  longer  expected  to  fall  into 
the  dull  routine  of  mere  mechanical  action.  lie  is  en- 
gaged in  a  contest  where  energy  and  skill  will  carry  off 
the  prizes,  and  where  the  unskilled  and  untrained  work- 
man will  pay  for  his  deficiencies  by  a  sacrifice  of  all 
those  comforts  and  improvements  which  are  the  reward 
of  intelligent  labor.  No  artisan  can  acquire  this  improved 
understanding  without  a  technical  training  which  very 
few  now  possess.  Practical  life  includes  education,  and 
the  latter  should  respond  with  everything  that  life  calls 
for.  We  want  a  training  that  will  reach  the  great  mass 
of  workers.  This  is  a  matter  of  life  and  death.  We 
don't  want  any  more  cheap  workmen,  for  they  are  by  far 
the  most  expensive  in  the  end.  Education  must  be  based 
upon  the  physical  laws  of  our  organization  as  on  our  men- 
tal. Only  half  educate  a  man,  and  he  is  unbalanced.  It 
is  like  setting  a  man  to  walk  on  one  leg,  or  requiring  a 
carpenter  to  work  evenly  without  using  the  plumb-line,  the 
water-level,  or  the  square.  Equilibrium  is  the  foundation 
of  what  we  technically  terra  industrial  education,  which 
is  exactly  the  counterpart  of  intellectual  culture.  It  is 
the  equitable  adjustment  of  our  various  faculties,  the  one 


284    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

giving  strength  and  skill,  and  the  other  wisdom,  refine- 
ment, and  ingenuity.  It  is  a  balance  of  ideas  and  dexter- 
ity, of  ability  to  suit  the  action  to  the  thought ;  the  alli- 
ance of  mental  and  muscular  devotion,  in  which  industry 
shares  in  what  has  been  the  exclusive  empire  of  literary 
instruction. 

It  is  evident  that  in  this  new  order  of  teaching  there 
should  be  due  proportion  of  time  allotted  to  each  branch, 
in  order  to  form  a  harmonious  whole.  The  children  must 
attend  the  industrial  studies  uninterruptedly,  for  they  are 
progressive  and  in  dependent  connection.  They  can  have 
no  elective  choice,  as  the  basis  of  the  system  is  to  general- 
ize instruction  so  as  to  embrace  mechanical  tools  and  op- 
erations common  to  as  many  trades  as  possible,  and  chil- 
dren of  twelve  and  fourteen  are  generally  incapable  of  spe- 
cializing their  own  pursuits.  The  negligence  of  parents 
and  the  idleness  of  scholars  are  not  to  be  encouraged,  for 
the  want  of  discipline  in  such  a  school  would  be  fatal  to 
the  whole  plan. 

Richard  Grant  White,  whose  peculiar  views  in  regard 
to  our  public  schools  do  not  recommend  his  suggestions  to 
the  friends  of  education,  has  expressed,  however,  some 
views  on  this  subject  that  are  worthy  of  serious  reflection. 
He  says : 

There  seems  to  be  no  other  method  conjecturable  than 
the  establishment  of  public  workshops,  which  shall  be 
public  schools  of  the  various  trades  or  crafts,  into  which 
boys  and  girls  might  be  received  under  conditions  some- 
thing like  apprenticeship.  For,  obviously,  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  allow  attendance  at  these  trade-schools  to  de- 
pend on  the  caprice  of  the  children  or  even  of  their  par- 
ents. Without  steadiness  and  continuity  of  attendance 
on  the  part  of  those  who  sought  their  benefit,  these  trade- 


MANUAL  TRAINING  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  285 

schools  would  soon  fall  to  pieces.  This  is  one  of  many 
difficulties  which  would  be  found  in  the  way  of  the  estab- 
lishment of  such  a  sj'stem.  Another  would  be  the  hostil- 
ity of  the  trades-unions.  For,  in  the  iirst  place,  such  a 
system  would  multiply  the  number  of  skilled  artisans; 
and  in  the  next  the  work  of  the  public  apprentices  would, 
of  course,  be  sold ;  and  for  both  these  reasons  all  the 
trades-unions  would  make  common  cause  against  them. 
None  the  less,  however,  the  question  must  be  met  and 
solved.  The  French,  most  logical,  most  practical,  most 
thrifty  of  peoples,  of  all  peoples  the  richest  and  apparently 
the  happiest,  have  undertaken  thp  solution  of  this  ques- 
tion in  ways  to  which  I  may  refer  hereafter. 

Public  schools  devoted  to  teaching  special  trades  are 
not  regarded  with  favor  by  those  who  appear  to  have  given 
the  greatest  reflection  to  the  subject,  at  least  in  the  pres- 
ent situation  of  things ;  but  it  is  somewhat  remarkable 
that  the  writer  anticipates  the  hostility  of  the  very  class 
that  is  to  be  ber.efited  by  manual  training  in  public  work- 
shops. His  expectations  are  quite  likely  mistaken,  and 
perhaps  the  introduction  of  the  manual  element  in  a  gen- 
eral way  would  obviate  the  objection.  Those  who  can 
read  and  write  might  with  equal  consistency  oppose  giving 
instruction  in  those  branches  to  all  others,  and  demand 
that  ignorance  should  not  be  educated,  for  fear  that  an 
insignificant  fraction  should  lose  the  benefit  which  knowl- 
edge in  these  arts  conferred  upon  them.  The  artisan 
fears  competition,  but  surely  he  cannot  object  to  have  his 
own  children  instructed  in  the  means  of  gaining  a  living 
by  the  work  of  their  hands,  instead  of  knowing  no  em- 
ployment, and  thus  draining  European  countries  of  skilled 
workmen  to  take  the  places  they  ought  to  fill  for  their 
own  support.     No  class  should  take  so  much  interest  in 


286    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

technical  or  manual  training  as  working-men,  for  their 
prosperity  depends  upon  it,  and  in  this  period  of  high 
workmanship  it  is  the  only  means  which  can  enable  the 
American  artisan  to  hold  his  own  in  the  fierce  competi- 
tion to  which  all  trades  are  subjected. 

It  has  been  found  that  workmen  are  ready  to  avail 
themselves  of  any  means  of  instruction  connected  with 
their  particular  handicraft.  The  report  of  the  Spring  Gar- 
den Institute  is  very  significant  on  this  point.  Yery 
nearly  one  half  of  the  entered  pupils  in  the  industrial 
classes  are  young  men  engaged  during  the  day  in  mechan- 
ical employments,  where  they  feel  the  need  of  such  in- 
struction as  the  school  affords,  "  They  do  not  come  for 
idle  amusement  but  to  work,  and  ihsj  jpay  for  the  privi- 
lege out  of  their  own  pockets,  demonstrating  their  good 
sense,  and  the  failure  of  shop  practice,  as  it  exists  to-day, 
to  meet  the  needs  of  learners."  The  same  effect  has  been 
observed  in  the  English  and  Massachusetts  night-classes. 
Take,  for  instance,  the  answer  of  a  working-man  to  a  series 
of  questions  propounded  to  working-men  for  an  expres- 
sion of  opinion  upon  the  effect  of  education  on  the  pro- 
ductiveness of  labor  in  1872,  which  reads  as  follows  :  "  I 
knew  three  young  men  in  this  place,  inside  of  the  past 
four  years,  that  took  instruction  in  drawing  machinery, 
while  worhlng  at  their  trade,  and  since  then  have  taken 
out  patents.  One  of  them  is  now  manufacturing  an  in- 
vention he  patented,  the  American  governor.  I  could  enu- 
merate numerous  instances  of  the  same  kind  that  have 
come  under  my  observation  since  working  at  my  trade." 

Another  example  occurs  in  the  special  report  of  the 
Bureau  of  Education,  just  issued  (1883),  where  it  is  stated 
that  a  mechanic  in  New  York  city,  who  had  accomplished 


MANUAL  TRAINING  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  287 

80  much  in  his  trade  as  to  have  received  a  medal  at  the 
Paris  Exposition  of  1878,  in  a  recent  letter  to  that  office 
refers  to  the  starting-point  in  his  career  as  a  thinking  and 
educated  workman  as  follows : 

After  serving  my  apprenticeship  and  working  three 
years  as  a  journeyman  smith,  I  began  to  feel  how  igno- 
rant I  was,  and  how  much  I  stood  in  need  of  culture  and 
other  matters  which  could  only  be  gained  through  an 
education.  And,  to  lift  myself  out  of  this  mediocre  mine 
in  which  I  had  so  long  remained,  I  attended  night-school 
twenty-eight  nights  at  one  of  the  public  schools  of  this 
city,  at  which  I  mastered  reading,  writing,  arithmetic, 
and  book-keeping,  single  and  double  entry.  Since  that 
time  I  have  been  an  ardent  student. 

Besides  furnishing  a  valuable  and  interesting  account 
of  various  industrial  institutions,  the  same  report  also 
gives  the  statistics  of  industrial  work  in  evening-schools 
which  have  been  established  in  a  great  many  of  our  cit- 
ies. Many  of  the  studies  relate  to  industrial  subjects 
though  not  to  special  trades,  snch  as  drawing,  designing, 
modeling,  and  mathematics.  These  schools  are  usually 
attended  by  the  children  of  working-people,  and  by  young 
mechanics,  in  order  to  acquire  that  knowledge  which  they 
deem  desirable  and  even  necessary  to  enable  them  to  pur- 
sue their  various  vocations  with  skill  and  intelligence, 
and  which  cannot  be  acquired  in  workshop  practice.  Al- 
most every  industry  is  represented  in  these  classes,  not- 
withstanding the  inconvenience  of  attending  them  after 
long  hours  and  hard  labor  during  the  day.  The  report 
remarks  that  doubtless  many  have  not  strength  to  labor 
and  study  at  the  same  time.  Yet  it  may  be  assumed  that 
the  cases  of  injury  from  overstudy  at  night  are  fewer  than 


288    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

the  instances  of  moral  and  physical  injury  received  in 
evening  hours  upon  the  street  or  in  the  haunts  of  vice. 
When  at  length  a  pupil  is  found  who  possesses  strength 
and  ability  to  combine  faithful  and  efficient  work  during 
the  day  with  intelligent  study  at  night,  he  is  worthy  of 
higher  education.  He  has  passed  a  test  that  would  have 
shown  serious  obstacles  to  progress  in  his  trade,  and  en- 
ables his  superiors  to  forecast  the  probabilities  of  his 
final  success.  He  has  acquired  a  practical  knowledge  of 
the  matters  which  his  technical  studies  would  explain  and 
illustrate,  and  thereby  can  pursue  them  to  the  best  advan- 
tage. 

Now  I  apprehend  that  men  and  children  who  sacrifice 
so  much  to  enjoy  the  advantage  of  technical  training 
which  these  schools  place  within  their  reach,  will  not  ob- 
ject to  a  still  more  practical  system  of  education,  during 
the  period  of  youth,  for  all.  Employers  ought  to  appre- 
ciate the  important  bearing  of  the  subject,  and  encourage 
and  support  every  measure  for  perfecting  their  workmen 
at  home,  instead  of  importing  them  from  abroad.  Ex- 
tensive business  firms  and  corporations  with  every  desire 
to  discharge  their  obligations  to  their  employes,  and  often 
with  a  careful  regard  for  their  comfort  and  well-being, 
seldom  give  themselves  any  trouble  about  their  manual 
instruction.  It  is  pleasant  to  find  at  least  one  employer 
who  felt  himself  under  the  necessity  of  making  the  ut- 
most exertion  and  of  using  every  means  to  instruct  as 
well  as  employ  them.  I  am  glad  to  notice  such  a  case. 
I  refer  to  a  gentleman  who  informed  me  that  some  thirty 
years  ago  he  started  a  railroad-car  manufactory  of  which 
he  was  the  sole  manager  and  mechanical  head.  The  busi- 
ness embraced  about  a  dozen  of  the  leading  trades.     He 


MANUAL  TRAINING  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  289 

began  with  the  men  he  could  find  in  the  vicinity,  only 
one  of  whom  had  any  knowledge  of  car-building,  and 
others  had  little  mechanical  skill  of  any  kind.  He  se- 
lected fifteen  of  those  who  were  best  adapted  to  that 
end  for  a  free  night-school  in  technical  knowledge.  He 
taught  them  drawing  and  the  principles  of  construction, 
and  he  soon  found  a  great  advance  in  their  efiiciency,  and 
that  it  was  the  most  fortunate  plan  he  could  have  taken 
to  put  his  efforts  on  the  surest  and  quickest  road  to  an 
intelligent  and  effective  body  of  men.  He  educated  them 
until  they  could  advance  by  their  own  efforts.  It  stimu- 
lated hope  and  energy  which  carried  some  of  them  to 
high  attainments,  and  their  attachment  to  him  was  such 
that  he  always  experienced  the  benefits  of  their  constancy 
and  skill.  He  still  makes  his  workshops  a  practical  school 
for  boys,  almost  uniformly  with  success,  and  has  qualified 
a  large  number  for  usefulness  and  prosperity.  He  is 
never  troubled  with  strikes  or  trade  combinations. 

If  every  manufacturer  felt  himself  under  the  same 
necessity  of  giving  some  attention  to  the  practical  educa- 
tion of  his  men,  success  in  business  would  be  greatly  in- 
creased, and  the  interested  and  active  zeal  of  their  intel- 
ligence would  be  productive  of  good  work  and  good  feel- 

The  opportunities  for  industrial  education  will  be 
many  and  varied  when  the  leading  business  concerns  will 
do  something  for  the  education  of  the  young,  in  order  to 
fit  them  for  useful  work  and  profitable  labor.  They  now 
receive  constant  appeals  from  those  having  boys  for  em- 
ployment. "Widowed  mothers  urge  that  their  boys  are 
greatly  endangered  for  want  of  something  to  do,  and  very 
often  that  they  stand  in  need  of  their  assistance  to  eke 


290    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

out  a  subsistence.  When  public  sentiment  understands 
the  importance  of  manual  education,  and  that  it  can  be 
successfully  made  an  element  in  our  public-school  system, 
many  of  our  large  industrial  establishments  will  provide 
practice-shops  in  connection  with  the  public  schools,  where 
shelter,  power,  and  machinery  will  be  furnished  at  very 
small  cost  for  practice-lessons,  and  the  work  of  the  schol- 
ars will  compensate  for  rent  and  damaged  materials,  and 
the  natural  faculties  so  greatly  varied  in  individuals  would 
surely  advance  from  the  lowest  to  the  fullest  skill. 

The  true  object  of  industrial  education  is  to  make 
both  art  and  science  contribute  their  ideal  influence  to 
our  useful  pursuits.  By  this  means  the  artisan  is  taught 
the  mechanical  application  of  the  studies  of  the  philoso- 
pher and  the  artist ;  and  so  thought  and  industry  form  an 
alliance  of  mutual  dependence  and  elevation.  In  his  ad- 
dress to  the  Harvard  students,  Wendell  Phillips  referred 
to  what  he  called  a  remarkable  comment  of  Lord  Brough- 
am on  the  life  of  Romilly,  enlarging  on  the  fact  that  the 
great  reformer  of  the  penal  law  found  all  the  legislative 
and  all  the  judicial  power  of  England,  its  colleges  and  its 
bar,  marshaled  against  him,  and  owed  his  success  to  mass- 
meetings  and  popular  instinct.  It  would  be  an  entire 
reversal  of  this  passage  if  the  industrial  classes  themselves 
were  found  retarding  rather  than  promoting  a  reform  in 
their  own  interests  and  lion  or.  It  would  prove  that  con- 
servatism is  not  the  exclusive  privilege  of  any  class.  But, 
whoever  opposes  the  movement,  it  will  go  forward.  It 
concerns  all  classes  of  our  people,  for,  as  Professor  Smith 
says,  "  unless  the  technical  education  of  the  producing 
classes  in  America  is  provided  for  better  than  it  is  now, 
that  is,  general  education  in  the  elements  of  art  and  science 


MANUAL  TRAINING   IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS,  291 

for  every  child,  and  in  the  practice  of  industrial  skill  for 
youth  and  workmen,  all  the  great  natural  advantage  of 
this  country  in  extent  and  variety-  of  native  products  will 
be  neutralized  and  destroyed." 

The  same  author,  referring  in  the  same  report  to  the 
indispensable  necessity  and  great  value  of  industrial  train- 
ing in  a  general  way,  observes  : 

I  would  impress  upon  you  that  this  is  a  question  of 
general  and  not  of  special  education.  The  establishment 
of  special  industrial  schools  only,  which,  after  all,  is  only 
patchwork  veneering,  and  remedial,  not  organic  and  pre- 
ventive, wnll  not  meet  the  difficulty.  That  has  been  tried 
and  failed,  and  will  do  so  again.  You  did  not  dispel  il- 
literacy and  ignorance  by  educating  one  quarter  of  one 
per  cent,  of  the  population,  but  by  teaching  all ;  and  you 
will  not,  by  any  system  of  special  industrial  schools  that  a 
community  wall  willingly  support,  be  able  to  educate  even 
so  small  a  percentage  of  the  whole  people  as  that  very 
insignificant  fraction,  nor  accomplish  more  for  industrial 
skill  by  them  than  the  education  of  a  few  monks  in  the 
middle  ages  did  for  the  general  education  of  the  people, 
without  common  schools.  Our  general  education  must 
include  the  elements  of  art  and  science,  taught  to  every 
child  in  every  school  during  the  whole  period  of  school- 
life,  and  in  reasonable  proportion  of  time  to  that  devoted  to 
other  profitable  subjects,  before  special  industrial  schools 
are  aught  but  playthings,  which  they  have  been  and  will 
continue  to  be  whenever  and  wherever  they  have  been 
established,  without  the  preliminary  preparation  for  them 
has  been  provided  in  the  common  schools. 

There  is  no  country  in  the  world  to-day  that  can  ab- 
solutely ignore  public  education  in  art  and  science  with- 
out becoming  impoverished.  There  is  none,  inhabited  by 
white  races,  that  has  made  so  little  provision  for  it  as  we 
have ;  and,  as  a  consequence,  no  other  country  imports  so 
large  a  proportion  of  the  products  of  skilled  labor  as 


292    EDUCATION  IX  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

America  ;  and  that  means  a  national  leakage  where  there 
should  be  a  spring  of  wealth ;  raw  materials  exported, 
manufactured  goods  imported ;  pennies-worths  sent  away, 
to  pay  for  dollars-worths  brought  here.  It  seems  per- 
fectly unaccountable  that,  while  the  general  education  of 
the  people  has  been  so  admirably  provided  for,  even  if 
too  limited  in  scope,  through  being  too  exclusively  literary 
and  theoretical,  and  the  technical  education  of  the  profes- 
sional classes  developed  in  the  most  complete  manner, 
yet,  though  apprenticeships  to  trades  have  gone  out  of 
fashion,  the  artisan  and  mechanic  are  left  without  tech- 
nical education,  and,  generally  speaking,  the  American 
workman  has  to  work  by  rule  of  thumb.  Yet,  so  it  is. 
I  invite  those  who  do  not  like-this  condition  of  things  to 
remedy  it. 

While  you  cannot  find  in  any  country  a  body  of  men 
with  more  average  intelligence  and  brightness  than  Amer- 
ican mechanics,  you  can  find  none  with  so  few  opportuni- 
ties of  improvement,  in  their  several  crafts,  by  education. 

As  a  consequence,  our  public  taste  and  industrial  skill 
are  about  in  a  similar  position  as  the  same  were  in  Eng- 
land in  1851.  If  we  are  to  make  a  change  as  radical  and 
complete  as  was  made  in  that  country,  we  must  adopt 
similar  means ;  and  if  the  political  economists  are  wise  in 
their  generation,  they  will  find  that  there  is  no  time  to  be 
lost  in  providing  technical  education  for  working-men. 

Many  other  authorities  might  be  cited  to  show  the 
tendency  of  opinion.  I  give  but  one  more.  It  is  a  pas- 
sage from  the  report  of  the  Boston  School  Committee  for 
1878,  which  I  abstract  from  the  same  address  : 

The  question  of  teaching  trades  in  our  schools  is  one 
of  vital  importance.  If  New  England  would  maintain  her 
place  as  the  great  industrial  center  of  the  country,  she 
must  become  to  the  United  States  what  France  is  to  the 
rest  of  Europe — the  first  in  taste,  the  first  in  design,  the 
first  in  skilled  workmanship.     She  must  accustom  her 


MANUAL  TRAINING   IN   PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  293 

cliildren  from  early  youth  to  the  use  of  tools,  and  give 
them  a  thorough  training  in  the  mechanic  arts. 

The  \tcole  municipal  cf  Apprentis,  already  described, 
cost  the  city  of  Paris  $150,000,  and  the  working  expenses 
amount  to  $12,000  a  year.  Each  of  the  two  hundred  and 
twenty-one  pupils  passes  through  the  school  on  the  aver- 
age at  a  cost  of  $55.50  per  annum.  The  return  to  Paris, 
for  her  investment  in  this  and  kindred  institutions,  is  the 
art  and  taste  displayed  in  her  fabrics,  which  assure  her 
wealth  and  magnificence.  Iler  workmen  can  design  a 
carpet,  decorate  a  wall,  paint  a  picture,  carve  a  table,  en- 
grave a  jewel,  embroider  a  screen,  mold  a  vase,  and  add 
a  grace  and  finish  to  every  article  of  use  or  beauty,  until 
she  has  become  the  acknowledged  mistress  of  the  world 
in  the  department  of  art-industry. 

In  the  condition  of  the  United  States  a  much  less  out- 
lay would  be  incurred  for  the  public  schools.  They  train 
the  understanding  until  it  becomes  a  reservoir  of  varied 
knowledge — the  most  complete  system  of  mental  devel- 
opment ever  devised  for  popular  instruction.  Beyond 
doubt  this  can  answer  an  admirable  purpose,  for  it  is  an 
established  principle  with  us  that  educated  men  and 
women  excel  those  who  are  not  so  in  whatever  branch  of 
work  they  engage.  But  what  course  are  the  graduates 
to  take  ?  Has  this  superb  education  given  them  the  in- 
formation they  most  need  in  this  industrious  world  ?  Now 
comes  the  test.  Here  school  -  life  ends  ;  its  motives,  its 
preferences,  and  its  work  are  now  to  be  displayed  in  an 
entirely  different  order  of  things.  Surely,  one  would 
think,  after  so  many  years  of  study,  embracing  the  whole 
educational  period  of  life  to  most  of  them,  some  of  these 


294    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

acquirements  can  be  embodied  in  works  useful  and  skill- 
ful, and  that  it  would  subserve  the  general  purpose  of 
uniting  one  portion  of  the  body  with  the  whole  in  its 
use,  and  that  it  would  extend  its  helping  power  to  all  the 
parts,  and  summon  them  into  the  harmony  of  co-operation 
in  a  life  of  self-help  and  self-reliance.  Does  not  the  re- 
sult of  observation  and  experience  warrant  much  of  the 
sarcasm  we  hear,  and  draw  from  all  the  true  friends  of 
our  school  system  an  ardent  desire  for  the  introduction 
of  such  reforms  and  improvements  as  will  infuse  and  im- 
press upon  all  the  pupils  the  living  practical  knowledge 
of  the  useful  and  the  true  ?  Professor  Runkle,  in  noticing 
this  deficiency,  and  in  pointing  out  the  proper  remedy, 
remarks  :  "  Suppose,  now,  that  the  same  student  had  the 
opportunity  during  his  school  course,  say  till  eighteen 
years  of  age,  to  go  through  a  well-arranged  series  of  me- 
chanic art-shops  under  competent  instructors ;  what  are 
the  chances  that  upon  graduation  he  would  not  enter 
upon  that  pursuit  for  which  he  felt  himself  best  fitted, 
and  which  held  out  the  best  prospects,  not  only  for  the 
pressing  present,  but  for  the  future  ?  That  a  course  of 
education  forms  habits  as  well  as  tastes,  is  obvious ;  and 
it  is  unreasonable  to  expect  that  pupils  educated  almost 
exclusively  through  one  set  of  closely  allied  subjects 
should  show  a  partiality  for  pursuits  with  which  these 
subjects  have  only  the  most  remote,  if  any,  connection." 
If  these  views  of  the  distinguished  professor  be  cor- 
rect, then  there  must  be  some  defect  in  our  system  of 
instruction,  and  that  defect  must  consist  in  limiting  the 
studies  to  the  intellect  alone,  and  the  exclusion  of  every 
element  of  practical  or  manual  teaching.  Perhaps  this 
course,  which  is  derived  from  the  by-gone  centuries,  might 


MANUAL  TRAINING  IN   PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  295 

still  answer,  were  it  not  for  the  wonderful  development 
of  the  useful  arts,  and  the  imperious  needs  which  they 
impose  for  industrial  and  educational  improvements.  Me- 
chanic art  is  one  of  wider  application  to-day  than  any 
other  branch  of  knowledge  taught  in  school  or  college. 
To  all  men  a  knowledge  of  it  is  important,  and  to  a  vast 
number  of  pursuits  it  is  indispensable ;  nor  does  it  impart 
useful  knowledge  only,  but  confers  also  a  most  valuable 
discipline  upon  the  higher  faculties,  for  one  of  its  ends  is 
intellectual.  Let  it  stand,  therefore,  in  its  proper  rank 
with  other  studies,  and  be  rated  just  as  it  compares  with 
them  in  elevating  and  instructing  the  mind,  and  imbuing 
it  with  that  kind  of  knowledge  which  will  increase  its 
powers  and  promote  the  usefulness  and  happiness  of  man- 
kind. 


CHAPTER  XY. 

Question  of  expense  considered — Cost  of  workshop  at  Gloucester — At  the 
Dwight  School,  Boston — Estimates  of  Mr.  Chaney — Mr.  Leland's  school 
at  Philadelphia — Of  the  Industrial  School  at  Montclair,  New  Jersey — 
Estimates  of  Mr.  Royce — Of  the  Spring  Garden  Institute — Helpless  con- 
dition of  the  graduate,  growing  out  of  an  exclusively  intellectual  train- 
ing— Natural  substances  are  fitted  by  industry  for  use — Cost  of  support 
for  public  schools — Object  of  education — Manual  skill  and  knowledge — 
High-schools — Professor  Runkle's  remarks  upon  high-schools — Manual 
training  ;  its  advantages — Mechanical  art — Multiplicity  of  talent — The 
benefit  of  generalizing  illustrated  by  botany  and  chemistry — Applied 
to  mechanic  art — Drawing  in  all  art — Generalizing  tools — The  use  of 
machinery — Has  not  superseded  the  necessity  for  skilled  workmen — 
Machinery  has  multiplied  employments — Illustrations  of  the  power- 
loom,  printing-press,  steam-engine,  and  cotton-gin — Efifects  of  machinery 
in  reducing  prices  and  inci-easing  conveniences — The  demand  for  per- 
fection of  workmanship — Examples  of  well-paid  skill — Inventions  and 
industrial  ambition — The  forces  of  matter  made  useful — Machine-tools 
— Hand-skill  still  required — Building,  carriage-making,  etc. — The  useful 
arts  co-operative — The  use  of  machinery  not  art — The  trained  artisan 
thinks  while  he  works — Connection  of  science  with  useful  art — The 
mechanic  the  true  demonstrator — Science-schools  in  Great  Britain — In 
the  United  States — In  public  schools — Education  in  the  rudiments  of 
science  a  necessity — Laboratories  and  workshops  attached  to  high- 
schools — Not  to  teach  a  particular  trade,  but  the  underlying  principles 
of  all  trades — Objection  answered — System  illustrated — Mr.  Magnus — 
City  and  Guilds  of  London  Institute — Finsbury  Technical  College — The 
system  adapted  to  our  public  schools. 

We  have  somewhat  considered  the  question  of  addi- 
tional expense,  and  have  contended  that  a  course  of  indus- 


MANUAL  TRAINING   IN   PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  297 

trial  training  might  be  devised  which  would  make  its  way 
by  degrees  into  various  forms  of  work  without  much  in- 
creasing the  public  burden.  This  has  been  the  experi- 
ence in  such  schools  as  have  tried  the  experiment  of  teach- 
ing some  of  the  minor  arts  and  the  rudiments  of  mechan- 
ical industry. 

In  the  special  report  of  L.  H.  Marvel,  superintendent 
of  the  Gloucester  public  schools,  in  estimating  the  ex- 
pense of  the  industrial  school  there,  he  remarks  that  a 
room  similar  to  the  one  at  Gloucester  can  be  fitted  np  for 
a  carpentry-class  at  an  expense  of  $500.  In  such  a  shop, 
thoroughly  and  completely  equipped,  one  teacher  can 
instruct  four  classes  each  day,  and  twenty  classes  each 
week,  of  sixteen  members  each,  and  the  actual  cost  of 
instruction  would  not  exceed  $800  annually,  allowing 
forty  weeks  for  the  year.  The  expense  of  stock  would 
not  exceed  fifty  cents  for  each  pupil.  Upon  this  basis 
the  per  capita  expense  of  instructing  three  hundred  and 
twenty  pupils  would  be  about  three  dollars  a  year.  Prob- 
ably the  expense  would  be  greater,  if  forging  and  casting 
were  added. 

The  school  committee  of  the  city  of  Boston,  in  co-op- 
eration with  the  Industrial  School  Association,  have  made 
a  ])ractical  trial  of  a  workshop  in  connection  with  a  pub- 
lic school.  One  of  the  rooms  of  the  Dwight  School  build- 
ing was  fitted  up  for  the  purpose.  A  carpenter  was  em- 
ployed as  teacher.  The  session  continued  from  January 
to  May,  1882.  The  total  expenses  incurred  in  equipping 
and  continuing  the  school  were  $712.  The  principal  of 
the  school,  in  speaking  of  the  great  success  of  the  enter- 
prise, concludes  in  these  words  :  "  I  consider  that  the  re- 
sults go  far  to  prove  that  manual  training  is  so  great  a 
14 


298    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

relief  to  the  iteration  of  school-work  that  it  is  a  positive 
benefit,  rather  than  a  detriment,  to  the  course  in  the  other 
studies." 

The  Rev.  George  L.  Chanej,  the  President  of  the  In- 
dustrial Association  in  Boston,  submits  the  following  ob- 
servations in  his  report  of  a  course  of  lessons  in  wood- 
carving,  in  regard  to  expenditure : 

A  single  ward-room  like  the  one  used  by  the  school 
in  Church  Street,  in  any  city,  for  the  six  months  from 
December  to  May,  during  which  time  it  usually  lies  idle, 
with  very  little  expense  beyond  the  original  plant  and  a 
moderate  salary  to  the  teacher,  would  meet  all  the  needs 
of  three  or  four  of  the  largest  grammar-schools  for  boys. 

Three  such  supplementary  schools,  if  used  in  turn, 
would  amply  satisfy  all  the  rightful  claims  of  industrial 
education  of  this  kind  upon  the  school  system  of  such  a 
city  as  Boston.  At  so  small  an  outlay  of  attention  and 
money  might  the  native  aptitude  of  American  youth  for 
manual  skill  be  turned  into  useful  channels.  In  so  sim- 
ple a  way  might  the  needed  check  be  given  to  that  exclu- 
sive tendency  toward  clerical  rather  than  industrial  pur- 
suits, which  the  present  school  course  undoubtedly  pro- 
motes. 

The  School  Board  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia  appropri- 
ated the  sum  of  $1,500  to  defray  the  first  year's  expenses 
of  the  industrial  classes  in  Mr.  Leland's  school ;  and  that 
of  Montclair  the  sum  of  $1,000  for  a  teacher  and  shop- 
instruction  which  they  associated  with  the  public  schools 
of  that  town.  In  his  book  on  "Deterioration  and  Race 
Education,"  Mr.  Royce  estimates  that  at  an  expense  of  a 
sura  no  larger  than  $20,000  an  industrial  institution  can  be 
equipped  for  the  instruction  of  seven  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight  pupils  to  be  taken  through  a  three  years'  course, 


MANUAL  TRAINING   IN  PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  299 

besides  evening-classes  in  wood-shops  for — 1.  Carpentry 
and  joinery ;  2,  Wood-turning ;  3,  Pattern-making  :  in 
iron-shops,  for — 1.  Yise-work  ;  2.  Forging ;  3.  Foundry- 
work  ;  4.  Machine-tool  work.  The  annual  expense  for 
tlie  industrial  education  of  each  student  would  not  exceed 
ten  dollars.  He  furthermore  declares  that  a  shop  teach- 
ing carpentry  and  joinery  may  be  furnished — to  com- 
mence with — for  $500  ;  and  that  the  industrial  education 
of  the  entire  youth  of  the  United  States  need  add  no  more 
than  ten  per  cent,  to  the  cost  of  our  present  school  system ; 
but  that  the  addition  to  the  public  wealth  would  make 
the  investment  the  best  the  nation  ever  made. 

The  Spring  Garden  Institute,  already  mentioned,  com- 
pleted a  machine-shop  for  instruction  in  every  branch  of 
mechanical  work  in  metal  and  wood,  except  casting,  and 
the  general  account  of  the  treasurer  for  the  year  1882 
sets  forth  the  expense  of  fitting  up  the  shop  as  follows : 

Mechanical  Handiwokk  Schools. 

Salaries  of  teachers $366  00 

Work-benches  and  other  fixtures 82  15 

Gas  engine 790  27 

Lathe 185  00 

Drill-press 125  00 

Planer 600  00 

Files,  chisels,  and  other  tools 532  70 

Forge,  anvil,  and  tools 45  87 

Twenty-six  vises 177  31 

$2,904  30 

It  is  anticipated  that,  as  the  pupils  advance  in  work, 
more  expensive  materials  may  be  required  and  an  increase 
in  the  number  of  teachers  ;  but  even  with  this  inexpen- 
sive equipment  the  technical  class  is  in  full  activity,  and. 


300    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

as  already  stated,  nearly  one  half  of  its  one  hundred  and 
five  pupils  are  mechanics  who  work  all  day  and  attend 
the  evening  classes  to  obtain  instruction  which  mere  shop 
practice  where  they  are  employed  fails  to  afford  them. 
There  are  unnumbered  thousands  in  our  cities  and  larger 
towns  who  would  be  signally  benefited  by  an  industrial 
training  of  a  kind  as  simple  as  this  institute  can  give, 
who  are  now  utterly  helpless  and  dependent  upon  any 
chance  job  they  can  get.  They  consider  themselves  above 
labor,  because  they  have  no  ability  to  work ;  but  how  far 
elevated  above  them  is  the  artisan  skilled  in  his  profes- 
sion, and  how  superior  in  every  respect  is  his  condition 
to  that  of  the  despairing  crowds  who  are  clamoring  for 
something  or  anything  to  do  !  How  many  examples  have 
we  seen  of  young  men  veneered  all  over  with  the  learn- 
ing of  our  schools  and  colleges  during  the  twelve  or  four- 
teen years  which  they  devoted  to  study,  come  out  at  last 
without  strength  or  skill  in  any  of  the  ordinary  purposes 
of  life !  Their  education  was  addressed  almost  exclu- 
sively to  the  intellectual  nature  and  its  interests,  and  con- 
sequently they  present  the  most  pitiable  form  of  help- 
lessness in  all  that  relates  to  their  bodily  wants  and  neces- 
sities. Their  powers  have  not  been  impartially  educated. 
ISTow,  if  man  was  of  the  spirit  only,  and  if  his  employ- 
ments were  those  of  the  reason  only,  he  could  dispense 
with  the  things  appertaining  to  this  base  and  refractory 
world,  and  deraaterialize  his  life  to  that  higher  form  of 
existence.  But,  alas !  that  is  only  one  side  of  his  nature. 
His  wants  and  desires  claim  a  most  important  influence 
not  only  upon  his  welfare,  but  also  upon  his  mental  and 
moral  affections.  The  cosmos  itself  is  his  adversary.  It 
is  a  globe  of  wood  and  stone  and  iron,  of  earth  and  air, 


MANUAL  TRAINING   IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  301 

of  sound  and  color  ;  and  we  find  this  truth,  that  in  those 
periods  when  tlie  ingenuity  of  our  race  was  dead  and  dor- 
mant, the  concrete  forms  of  nature  partook  of  the  same 
immobility.  To  relieve  them  of  their  surplus  fragments, 
to  correct  their  restive  or  noxious  qualities,  and  to  adapt 
their  excellences  to  the  use  of  man,  has  been  the  task  of 
his  industry  as  well  as  the  reward  of  his  intelligence. 
The  relation  of  education  to  the  first  as  to  the  last  will 
be  better  understood  when  we  are  willing  to  acknowledge 
that  they  jointly  represent  the  physical  organization  of 
society  and  the  refinement  and  elevation  of  human  cult- 
ure. 

It  is  estimated  that  the  school-buildings  in  this  coun- 
try have  been  erected  at  a  cost  of  $175,000,000,  and  that 
they  are  supported  at  a  cost  of  not  less  than  $83,000,000 
per  annum.  Whether  any  of  this  immense  expenditure 
can  be  utilized  for  giving  industrial  training  is  a  problem 
that  will  be  answered  either  way  according  to  individual 
prepossessions.  One  thing,  however,  appears  very  certain, 
which  is,  that  the  existing  school  system  has  failed  to  pre- 
pare our  children  for  the  practical  pursuits  of  life.  The 
reply  may  be  made  that  it  has  not  undertaken  to  do  so. 
But  I  should  prefer  to  think  that  no  one  would  urge  that 
view,  for  it  would  be  a  cognovit  of  its  decrepitude. 

It  has  passed  into  a  truism  that  the  main  object  of 
education  is  to  prepare  the  pupils  for  the  practical  duties 
of  life ;  and  as  the  common  school  is  for  the  great  mass 
of  the  people  in  order  to  benefit  them,  it  ought  to  be  di- 
rected to  this  end.  We  cheerfully  acknowledge  the  vast 
importance  of  mental  training,  but  there  are  other  ca- 
pacities that  are  essential  to  useful  service,  and  whose  cul- 
tivation is  not  less  important  to  the  individual  or  to  the 


302    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

public  good.  Upon  what  principle,  then,  if  any,  can  the 
function  of  public  instruction  be  limited  to  the  culti- 
vation of  intelligence  alone,  and  that  no  portion  of  the 
money  raised  by  taxation  upon  all  alike,  should  be  spent  in 
perfecting  the  manual  skill  and  knowledge  ujDon  which 
the  great  mass  of  the  children  must  depend  in  after-life  ? 
The  requisites  of  a  true  education  should  contribute  to 
the  development  of  both,  and  literary  courses  should  cor- 
respond with  industrial  courses,  and,  after  the  elementary 
grades  have  been  passed,  there  should  be  no  question  of 
precedence,  or  any  objection  on  the  ground  of  expense. 
It  is  as  if  a  legacy  "were  left  to  two  brothers,  and  one 
should  appropriate  the  whole  to  hiraseK.  Manual  indus- 
try is  winning  its  claim  to  a  share  in  the  present  school 
funds,  especially  since  useful  instruction  in  aid  of  that 
object  can  be  added,  as  we  have  seen,  to  the  public  schools 
without  much  expenditure,  beyond  the  salaries  of  skilled 
workmen  to  teach,  and  in  some  cases  additional  buildings 
for  shops  and  machinery. 

Perhaps  no  one  ought  to  object  to  the  creation  of 
high-schools,  although  they  are  designed  only  for  those 
who  desire  a  superior  degree  of  education  ;  but  the  time 
has  come  to  require  that  they  should  have  annexed  work- 
shops for  the  introduction  of  the  manual  element  as  com- 
plementary to  their  theoretical  studies.  Professor  Punkle 
remarks  that  if  it  is  thought  that  a  proper  manual  ele- 
ment should  enter  into  the  education  of  all,  then  the 
shops  should  be  attached  to  the  high-school,  and  serve  to 
strengthen  it  by  attracting  students  who  now  do  not  see 
any  gain  in  the  high-school  course  unless  they  have  the 
college  or  some  other  particular  end  in  view.  "  Admit- 
ting," he  says,  "  that  two  three-hours'  sessions  per  week 


MANUAL   TRAINING   IN   PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  303 

for  the  four  years  would  be  as  much  time  as  would  be 
needed  for  shop  instruction,  then  a  series  of  eight  shops 
arranged  to  teach  twentj-tive  in  a  section  would  accom- 
modate twelve  hundred  pupils.  It  is  plain  that  only  the 
laboratory  method  would  made  it  possible  to  teach  this 
large  number  of  pupils,  and  one  such  series  of  shops  would 
be  ample  for  a  good-sized  city." 

From  this  rational  and  consistent  view,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  the  proposed  system  of  teaching  manual  art 
is  as  general  and  elementary  as  any  of  the  studies  in  the 
ordinary  classes,  but  it  has  this  great  advantage  over  them 
all,  namely,  a  liberal  practice  of  the  lessons  in  actual 
manipulation  ;  and  all  those  who  have  derived  their  views 
from  experience  inform  us  that  one  who  has  had  no  op- 
portunity to  observe  this  practice  can  form  but  little  con- 
ception of  its  value  in  giving  force  and  validity  to  the 
theoretical  part  of  education,  and  to  the  peculiar  aptitudes 
of  the  pupils.  It  is  the  method  of  teaching  chemistry, 
astronomy,  geology,  navigation,  mineralogy,  and  electrici- 
ty, transferred  to  the  study  of  industrial  art.  The  remark 
is  subject  to  but  little  limitation,  that  the  latter  is  a  neces- 
sity to  the  great  body  of  the  children. 

N^ow,  it  is  not  urged  against  the  studies  of  the  high- 
school,  that  they  give  a  knowledge  to  the  pupils  which 
they  would  never  use  in  after-life,  or  use  only  incident- 
ally, and  that  for  this  reason  they  should  be  excluded 
from  the  list  of  studies.  Perhaps  some  of  them  might 
be  discredited  on  this  ground.  But  all  knowledge  is  use- 
ful, and  it  will  be  a  life-long  benefit  to  any  pupil  if  he 
can  use  the  hammer,  the  chisel,  and  the  saw,  and  under- 
stand the  principles  and  movements  of  machinery.  It 
will  be  of  still  greater  service  upon  the  character  of  those 


304    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

who  are  thus  taught.  Industry  and  application  will  be- 
come familiar  to  them,  which  will  greatly  lessen  the  dan- 
gers from  idleness  and  dissipation,  for  it  will  be  much 
easier  to  find  an  occupation  when  one  has  a  general  skill 
than  when  he  has  none  ;  he  can  also  adopt  the  one  which 
pleases  him  best,  and  which  he  can  exercise  to  the  great- 
est profit ;  and,  when  he  is  thrown  out  of  work  in  one 
employment,  he  can  turn  his  general  skill  and  knowledge 
to  account  in  another.  The  skilled  workman  can  find 
the  means  of  earning  a  fair  subsistence  even  in  the  hard- 
est times. 

Principbs  are  few,  but  art  is  infinitely  varied.  Large 
masses  of  men  fill  the  different  occupations  in  our  huge 
manufactories,  embracing  founders,  smiths,  machinists, 
carpenters,  pattern-makers,  upholsterers,  painters,  fitters, 
mechanical  engineers,  designers,  and  superintendents  ;  but 
whoever  has  been  trained  in  mechanical  art  has  the  key 
to  unlock  the  door  to  all  these  vocations.  The  natural 
faculties  are  as  greatly  varied  in  individuals  as  are  the 
forms  of  art  itself,  and,  when  they  are  improved  with 
rudimentary  knowledge,  they  will  enter  freely  upon  their 
own  development  in  an  extensive  class  of  hand-work, 
which  is  based  upon  analogous  rules,  and  which  require 
essentially  the  same  kind  of  aptitudes.  This  multiplicity 
of  talent  extends  throughout  the  domain  of  all  art ;  it  is 
observable  in  the  works  of  great  artists.  Albert  Diirer 
was  a  painter  and  designer,  lie  had  the  glory,  says  a 
recent  writer,  of  renewing  the  art  of  engraving  and  wood- 
carving.  He  practiced  the  art  of  etching,  and  produced 
marvels  of  skill  with  a  dry  point ;  and,  like  Leonardo  da 
Vinci  and  Michael  Angelo,  he  was  an  architect,  a  sculp- 
tor, a  goldsmith,  and  an  engineer;  he  designed  fountains 


MANUAL  TRAINING  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  305 

with  bas-reliefs,  handles  for  swords  and  scabbards,  and 
drawings  for  medals  and  coins.  When  the  theory  of  art 
is  understood,  it  only  requires  intelligence  of  mind  and 
skillfulness  of  hand  to  fit  any  one  for  diversified  useful- 
ness and  a  profitable  employm-cnt  of  his  labor. 

We  have  adverted  to  the  power  of  generalizing  the 
relation  which  is  claimed  for  mechanic  art,  just  as  is  the 
case  in  botany  and  chemistry.  The  immense  number  of 
species  and  variety  in  the  realm  of  vegetable  life  would 
defy  human  ingenuity  and  industry,  and  the  most  pa- 
tient and  stupendous  researches  into  their  nature,  struct- 
ure, and  growth  would  perish  with  the  investigator  who 
made  them,  were  it  not  that  whole  classes  of  plants  have 
characteristics  upon  which  a  theory  can  be  founded,  so 
that  everything  that  grows  upon  the  earth  or  is  warmed 
by  the  sun  can  be  classified  and  indexed  according  to  the 
general  relations  which  science  has  explored  and  discov- 
ered. 

AVhat  Linnaeus  accomplished  for  botany,  another  illus- 
trious Swede  *  did  for  chemistry.  This  science,  found- 
ed on  the  somatology  of  natural  substances,  reveals  the 
universal  law  of  their  relation.  The  chemist  is  able  to 
represent  the  composition  of  numberless  compounds  by 
numerical  formulae  which  express  truly  and  accurately  to 
every  other  chemist  the  analysis  and  proportions  of  every 
combination  of  elements,  and  the  reaction  in  which  their 
relation  exists.  The  extent  and  importance  of  the  applied 
branches  of  this  science  to  the  useful  arts  may  be  judged 
of,  when  we  reflect  that  there  is  scarcely  a  manufactory 
or  workshop  in  which  numerous  chemical  questions  are 
not  constantly  springing  up.  In  iron,  pottery,  and  glass- 
*  Johan  Jakob  Bcrzelius. 


3()G    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

works  ;  in  the  reduction  of  ores,  the  assaying  of  metals, 
and  the  elimination  of  gold  and  silver ;  in  the  arts  of  print- 
ing, enameling,  gilding,  bleaching,  dyeing,  photography, 
and  electro-magnetism  ;  in  the  preparation  of  gas,  electro- 
light,  coal-oil,  fertilizers,  explosives,  combustibles,  mixed 
metals,  and  innumerable  acids  for  practical  application, 
the  accumulations  of  chemical  knowledge  are  so  vast  and 
varied  that  no  single  mind  could  grasp  them  without  a 
theoretical  arrangement  by  which  the  facts  and  principles 
could  be  generalized  into  systematic  order.  The  "  atomic 
theory,"  which  gave  rise  to  the  numerical  formulae  of  the 
proportional  elements  in  compounds,  is  like  a  common 
tool  by  which  the  whole  can  be  manipulated ;  and  the  dis- 
coveries and  experiences  of  one  chemist  can  be  understood 
and  appropriated  by  every  other  chemist  as  soon  as  seen, 
and  can  be  acted  upon,  with  entire  certainty  of  the  same 
result. 

The  same  idea  of  plan  and  method  is  dawning  upon 
mechanical  art,  and  from  the  skilled  mechanicians  of  our 
technological  institutions  we  may  hope  to  see  this  demon- 
strated by  an  induction  of  facts  matured  into  a  splendid 
proof  that  there  is  a  scientific  method  in  the  implements 
with  which  industry  accomplishes  its  miracles  of  skill  and 
establishes  the  triumphs  of  art.  Why,  then,  may  not  the 
theory  of  tools  be  understood  by  the  children,  like  other 
elements  of  natural  philosophy,  for  it  is  quite  as  easy  to 
learn  ? 

Of  course,  the  matter  of  drawing  is  the  great  lever  in 
all  useful  art.  From  horizontal,  vertical,  and  curved  lines 
in  simple  diagrams,  the  student  proceeds  step  by  step  to 
the  most  complicated  designs.  The  primary  lessons  are 
on  a  plane  with  his  comprehension,  but,  as  he  advances 


THE   USE  OF  MACHINERY.  307 

and  combines,  they  lead  him  forward  to  a  knowledge 
of  principles  of  constructions  progressively  from  simple 
forms  to  all  the  attainments  his  profession  may  require. 
So  there  are  a  few  tools  that,  when  mastered,  give  the 
key  to  a  series  of  corresponding  occupations.  The  square, 
saw,  plane,  chisel,  and  gouge  can  be  applied  to  a  wide  ex- 
tent of  industries,  and  an  ordinarily  ingenious  person, 
who  has  mastered  their  use,  can  advance  himself  at  will 
to  the  highest  skill  in  a  large  catalogue  of  work.  In  iron, 
the  tools  are  the  square,  chisel,  hammer,  file,  chuck,  and 
lathe.  A  mechanic  skilled  in  the  use  of  these,  and  with  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  drawing  and  design,  can  perform  a 
great  variety  of  employments,  for  he  enters  the  vestibule 
of  all  the  trades  that  labor  in  wood  or  iron,  on  brass,  cop- 
per, stone,  tin,  ivory,  gold,  silver,  or  the  precious  gems. 
Such  may  be  termed  general  workmen,  and  in  accommo- 
dating themselves  to  some  strange  labor  they  may  not  at 
first  be  quite  equal  to  its  requirements,  but  they  can  very 
soon  make  full  use  of  their  general  knowledge  and  skill 
by  acquiring  a  slight  practice  of  the  new  element  to  be 
mastered.  With  a  knowledge  of  mechanical  art,  with  skill 
in  the  handling  of  hand-tools,  and  the  leading  machine- 
tools  in  general  use,  they  can  do  excellent  work  all  along 
the  industrial  line,  and  can  reach  high  attainments,  for 
the  stepping-stones  of  progress  have  been  laid  at  their 
feet. 

We  may  be  told  that  the  use  of  machinery  has  so 
abridged  the  use  of  the  hand,  that  few  things  are  now 
made  in  which  it  is  at  all  employed.  In  heavy  manual 
labor  the  intervention  of  machinery  has  been  immensely 
extended.  Think  of  the  steam-hammer  that  forges  an 
anchor,  the  hydraulic  press  that  lifts  a  bridge,  or  the  Cy- 


308    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

clopean  furnace  wliicli  welds  a  piece  of  iron  that  a  hun- 
dred men  would  fail  to  move!  Our  dwellings,  clothing, 
and  food  are  prepared  for  us  by  the  inventions  of  the 
age.  These  have  introduced  changes  into  the  practice  of 
every  branch  of  industrial  art ;  but  it  is  a  great  mistake 
to  suppose  that  they  have  superseded  the  necessity  for 
skilled  workmen.  They  have  served  to  cheapen  produc- 
tion, and  to  multiply  beyond  all  calculation  the  number 
of  occupations  in  the  department  of  industry.  And  it  is 
now  seen  that,  as  our  tastes  are  cultivated  for  higher  de- 
velopment in  artistic  effect,  our  increased  facilities  in  the 
use  of  labor-saving  machinery  are  absolutely  indispensa- 
ble to  supply  and  gratify  our  wants.  A  complicated  ma- 
chine, like  the  power-loom,  produces  fabrics  woven  by 
iron-fingered  operatives,  and  the  girl  who  watches  the 
tissue  and  stops  the  automaton  when  it  has  completed  the 
web  will  weave  more  cloth  than  fifty  men  with  the  Ori- 
ental hand-shuttle.  It  was  thought  that  this  invention 
would  bring  idleness  and  starvation  to  the  hand-weavers, 
and  no  doubt  it  did  produce  temporary  distress  to  many ; 
yet,  how  soon  the  increased  production  widened  the  field 
of  demand,  until  it  has  become  one  of  the  most  important 
branches  of  human  industry  and  necessity ! 

Formerly  books  were  copied  by  hand.  The  process 
was  slow  and  costly,  and  those  who  could  purchase  them 
were  circumscribed  to  a  very  limited  circle.  The  great 
body  of  the  people  had  no  books,  and  even  few  of  the 
rich  could  pay  the  price  for  transcribing  them.  But  now 
the  leaves  are  fabricated  by  one  set  of  machinery,  and 
covered  with  words  by  another,  and  there  is  no  man  so 
poor  that  he  may  not  be  the  proprietor  of  volumes  more 
beautiful    and   precious   than    those  which  adorned  the 


THE   USE  OF  MACniNERY.  309 

shelves  of  the  great  library  at  Alexandria.  The  com- 
merce of  books  which  this  invention  has  created  is  not 
only  diffusing  knowledge  and  forming  public  opinion, 
but  it  has  doubled  every  other  employment,  both  mental 
and  material.  It  has  originated  callings  and  crafts  which 
were  unknown  when  information  was  confined  to  the 
few.  Paper-makers,  machine-makers,  type-founders  and 
type-setters,  engineers,  book-sellers,  book-binders,  proof- 
readers and  compositors,  librarians,  editors,  and  authors 
have  mostly  been  created  by  the  fiat  of  the  printing  and 
paper  machines. 

The  steam-engine  of  Watt  has  probably  increased  a 
thousand-fold  the  industrial  occupations  of  the  world.  It 
drives  all  the  machines  that  work  on  wood,  or  iron,  or 
stone,  in  cotton,  wool,  and  silk,  and  achieves  all  the 
changes  in  their  form  which  render  them  subservient  to 
the  wants  of  man. 

One  can  scr.rcely  conceive  of  the  vast  revolutions,  the 
extended  manufactures,  the  multiplied  mechanic  arts  and 
refinements  brought  about  by  Whitney's  cotton-gin.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  enumerate  the  forms  of  labor  it 
has  originated  in  the  textile  industries  of  mankind. 

The  manufacture  of  gas  from  pit-coal,  which  dates 
from  the  commencement  of  the  century,  undoubtedly  dis- 
placed much  labor  engaged  in  candle-making,  and  also 
the  employment  of  seamen  and  ships  required  for  the 
w^hale-fisheries  to  furnish  oil  to  be  burned  in  lamps ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  has  created  an  industry  of  incalcu- 
lable importance,  besides  contributing  to  a  host  of  other 
arts,  many  of  which  are  collateral  to  and  dependent  upon 
it  for  subsistence.  Its  splendor,  however,  is  about  to  be 
obscured  by  the  blazing  effulgence  of  electric  illumina- 


310    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

tion.  Of  all  the  elements,  electricity  is  perhaps  the  most 
incomprehensible,  but  of  all  it  is  the  most  obedient ;  hu- 
man ingenuity  will  therefore  be  able  to  turn  it  to  many 
useful  purposes  ;  and  when  art  has  overcome  present  dif- 
ficulties, and  tempered  its  insufferable  radiance  to  the 
softness  of  the  sunlight,  it  will  supersede  all  other  modes 
of  lighting  our  streets,  our  houses,  and  places  of  public 
resort.  This  may  affect  the  dividends  of  stockholders, 
but  both  rich  and  poor,  the  scholar  and  the  artisan,  will 
participate  in  the  benefits. 

The  grand  effect  of  these  and  kindred  improvements 
has  been  to  introduce  a  marvelous  economy  of  time  and 
labor,  and  a  corresponding  reduction  in  price,  which 
bring  numberless  conveniences  and  comforts  within  the 
means  of  all  classes.  They  were  once,  upon  a  time  not 
very  remote,  attainable  only  by  the  rich  and  noble,  and 
many  of  them  the  greatest  kings  would  have  envied. 
These  appliances  seem  to  have  done  more  in  proportion 
for  the  humbler  classes  than  for  those  of  superior  fortune 
or  station.  They  make  comfortable  homes  for  the  poor, 
and  till  them  with  chairs,  tables,  knives,  forks,  and  a 
variety  of  furniture  on  which  the  toil-worn  artisan  can 
rest  or  sleep ;  they  decorate  his  dwelling  with  wall-paper 
and  carpets,  give  him  linen  and  blankets,  and  china  and 
earthenware ;  they  furnish  hiin  with  glass  windows  and 
glassware  and  mirrors,  and  fill  his  kitchen,  his  pantry, 
and  closets  with  all  the  conveniences  of  modern  im- 
provement ;  they  enable  him  to  sit  in  his  own  pew,  and 
to  enjoy  a  seat  at  the  concert  or  the  lecture ;  they  make 
him  familiar  with  broadcloth,  and  his  wife  witli  fabrics 
whicli,  for  elegance,  were  in  her  grandmother's  day  be- 
yond the  reach  of  a  duchess ;  they  afford  him  copies  of 


THE   USE  OF  MACHINERY.  311 

the  finest  engravings  and  pictures,  and  a  large  share  of 
the  treasures  of  art  and  literature. 

But  perhaps  in  no  instance,  so  much  as  in  the  man- 
sion of  the  wealthy  proprietor,  do  we  witness  such  varied 
utilities  assembled,  or  the  skill  of  so  many  craftsmen 
harmoniously  combined.  It  is  an  industrial  exposition  to 
which  the  most  subtile  designs  of  the  architect,  the  skill 
of  the  painter,  the  beauty  of  ornament,  and  the  swart 
arm  of  the  artisan,  have  equally  contributed. 

This  universal  demand  for  the  conveniences  of  life 
could  not  be  satisfied  were  it  not  for  the  machinery 
which  has  cheapened  production  so  as  to  bring  them 
into  common  use,  and  which  has  called  into  existence  a 
multiplicity  of  useful  arts  in  which  science,  genius,  and 
industry  find  the  most  important  and  interesting  avoca- 
tions. The  changes  introduced  by  machinery,  so  far  from 
doing  away  with  the  need  of  cultivated  talent,  have  in- 
creased the  demand  for  it  in  every  calling.  Nothing  can 
illustrate  this  more  forcibly  than  the  ever-increasing  and 
overwhelming  cry  for  perfection  of  workmanship  in 
every  department  of  skilled  labor,  and  the  increasing 
rate  of  compensation  it  receives.  Professor  Weir,  in  a 
recent  address,  remarked  that  beauty  of  design  as  well 
as  perfection  of  workmanship  is  that  which  builds  up 
such  a  business  as  that  of  the  Tiffanys,  who  excel  the 
world.  In  cabinet  goods  Americans  also  excel,  but  all 
designs  are  imported.  Workmen  educated  in  France 
and  England  command  here  large  salaries.  There  are 
designers  in  upholstery  in  New  York  who  receive  a 
larger  salary  than  tlie  presidents  of  colleges,  and  more 
than  a  cabinet  minister.  There  are  designers  on  the 
Leslie  pictorial  magazines  who  are  paid  $150  a  week, 


312    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

while  those  of  the  highest  ability  receive  as  much  as 
$250  a  week,  to  say  nothing  of  what  they  earn  outside. 

The  inventions  mentioned  above  are  striking  exam- 
ples of  the  instrumentality  exercised  by  single  contriv- 
ances over  the  destinies  of  the  race ;  but  the  constantly 
increasing  importance  of  machinery  in  the  advancement 
of  mankind  shows  how  much  remains  to  be  accom- 
plished by  the  ingenuity  and  skill  of  our  artisans,  and 
those  who  are  to  take  their  places  hereafter.  The  bold- 
ness of  industrial  ambition,  the  various  skill  of  the  work- 
ers, and  the  vastness  of  the  aggregate  results,  impress  the 
mind  with  a  sense  of  power  that  almost  belongs  to  the 
sublime.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  these  enormous 
mechanical  giants  have  advanced  to  their  present  high 
organization  by  a  gradual  process  of  invention  and  adap- 
tation. It  has  taken  ages  of  experience  to  reach  them. 
The  forces  of  matter  are  gradually  yielding  to  the  in- 
ductive powers  of  the  mind,  and  scarcely  a  year  now 
passes  that  we  do  not  convert  their  ductile  agencies  to 
our  use.  Every  species  of  electricity  is  becoming  sub- 
servient to  our  purposes,  and  galvanic  heats  are  applied 
to  numerous  and  important  economies.  Our  investiga- 
tions have  not  yet  taught  us  all  the  applications  of  these 
new  powers,  for  they  have  not  been  studied  to  any  ex- 
tent as  they  will  be  hereafter.  Next  to  chemistry  they 
are  probably  destined  to  hold  a  foremost  place  in  the 
useful  arts,  and  to  make  still  greater  additions  to  the  in- 
dustrial employments  of  the  world. 

Since  the  industrial  revolution  which  resulted  from 
the  steam-engine,  various  contrivances  have  been  con- 
structed, under  the  general  name  of  machine-tools.  Now, 
while  these  tools  do  both  heavy  and  fine  work,  they  can 


HAND-TOOLS  AND   HAND-SKILL.  313 

only  be  employed  in  large  establishments,  with  an  exten- 
sive plant  and  a  great  variety  of  machinery.  The  bulk 
of  mechanical  work  for  current  wants  in  many  parts  of 
the  country  must  of  necessity  be  hand-work,  as  it  is  di- 
vided into  so  widely  distributed  details.  Take  as  an  illus- 
tration that  of  house-building.  The  material  is  all  pre- 
pared by  machinery,  yet  a  large  proportion,  if  not  all  the 
work  of  construction,  is  still  by  hand-skill,  and  of  a  far 
higher  range  of  skill  than  is  required  for  turning  a  ma- 
chine ;  for,  while  the  latter  is  routine  work,  the  former 
is  a  continued  presentation  of  new  conditions  requiring 
both  judgment  and  skill.  The  building  consists  in  sim- 
ply making  into  concrete  form  the  conception  already  illus- 
trated by  the  drawing.  It  is  one  of  the  first  necessities, 
and  in  its  plainest  form  is  very  simple.  The  work  be- 
gins in  the  forest.  Trees  are  cut  down  almost  entirely  by 
hand-tools.  The  axe,  in  the  hands  of  those  skilled  in  its 
use,  is  a  very  effective  instrument  for  many  uses.  It  is  a 
favorite  with  everybody,  from  the  small  boy  with  his 
diminutive  hatchet  ;  and  its  need  to  a  great  variety  of 
purposes  in  domestic  life  can  not  be  denied,  l^ext  comes 
the  use  of  machinery  for  sawing  the  trees  into  various 
kinds  of  lumber,  bringing  it  to  straight  or  curved  lines  in 
rough  forms.  Another  labor-saving  machine  of  still  more 
surprising  power  intervenes  —  the  planing-mill  dresses 
the  lumber  to  a  finer  finish ;  and  by  still  other  contriv- 
ances the  boards,  posts,  beams,  floors,  windows,  doors,  and 
moldings,  are  sawed,  tongued,  and  fitted  to  match  each 
other.  But,  before  these  pieces  become  a  part  of  the 
structure,  they  are  subjected  in  a  great  number  of  details 
to  the  hand-plane,  hand-saw,  and  other  hand-tools,  for  the 
purpose  of  minuter  divisions  and  proportions,  as  well  as 


314    EDUCATIOX  IN  ITS  RELATIOX  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

for  fiuer  nnish,  ornamental  effect,  and  the  best  form  of 
configuration.  The  heavy  routine  work  is  performed  by 
steam,  but  the  same  skill  in  arranging  the  parts,  the  same 
dexterity  in  handling  tools,  and  the  same  skill  in  finish- 
ing the  job,  are  required  ;  for  perfect  work  in  architect- 
ure is  a  growing  demand  in  all  kinds  of  buildings. 

So  every  part  of  wood  or  iron  in  the  construction  of 
carriages  and  wagons  can  be  obtained  all  ready  made.  In 
new  structures  this  is  a  great  convenience.  But  to  make 
the  carriage  a  complete  thing,  requires  constructive  sci- 
ence of  the  highest  order — to  say  nothing  of  the  painter, 
the  upliolsterer,  and  the  worker  in  leather,  who  are  asso- 
ciated in  the  finished  production.  Besides,  carriages  are 
constantly  requiring  repairs  which  it  would  be  impossible 
to  provide  for,  especially  in  the  rural  distncts,  in  any  other 
way  than  by  making  the  individual  part  needed  for  the 
special  want.     All  this  requires  first-class  hand-skill. 

The  same  illustrations  can  be  extended  to  all  mechan- 
ical trades,  for  they  are  general  in  their  application.  The 
useful  arts  are  pre-eminently  co-operative.  Thus,  it  is 
true  that  machinery  enlarges  the  facilities  of  productive 
industry,  and  thereby  increases  the  demand  for  a  higher 
education  in  the  theories  and  science  of  their  movements, 
to  make  our  greater  facilities  available.  It  is,  after 
all,  the  hand-work  of  the  artisan  required  in  these  opera- 
tions that  gives  a  distinctive  character  to  the  work,  and 
makes  it  a  speaking  memorial  of  his  skill  and  genius. 
The  use  of  machinery  is  not  art.  A  machine  copies,  and 
can  multiply  a  thousand  or  a  million  fold  the  same  article, 
and  it  makes  them  exactly  alike  ;  but  the  skill  with  which 
an  artisan  designs  his  work,  or  invents  a  remedy  for  an  un- 
expected obstacle,  exercises  the  spirit  of  true  art,  and  de- 


SCIENCE   AND   USEFUL   ART.  315 

serves  the  palm  of  refinement  and  originality.  He  evolves 
the  present  power  to  think  and  work  and  the  future 
strength  and  courage  to  create  the  circumstances  neces- 
sary to  his  success.  The  moment  he  takes  up  his  work  is 
that  in  which  his  mind  is  busiest,  for  by  a  natural  adjust- 
ment, all  his  abilities  are  concentrated  upon  the  subject  in 
a  common  focus  ;  and  perhaps  the  thoughts  which  agitate 
his  mind  will  find  expression  in  the  excellence  of  his  work, 
or  in  that  which  will  add  to  its  efliciency  or  improve  its 
quality. 

Of  course,  I  speak  of  one  who  understands  the  practi- 
cal bearing  of  the  science  upon  which  his  work  is  based. 
There  is  a  very  general  idea  that  the  sciences  have  no  con- 
nection with  the  useful  arts  of  life,  or  that  there  is  any 
need  of  cultivating  them  for  the  material  uses  of  art.  To 
educate  a  mechanic  in  science  appears  to  many  persons  as 
absurd  as  it  would  be  to  give  meat  to  a  thirsty  man,  or 
drink  to  a  hungry  one.  And  yet  it  is  of  more  impor- 
tance to  teach  him  that  species  of  knowledge  than  to  do 
the  same  thing  for  the  scholar.  He  is  the  true  demon- 
strator, for  he  reduces  the  theories  of  the  philosopher  to 
practice,  and  connects  them  with  substantial  uses  for  the 
benefit  of  all.  The  mission  of  practical  science  is  to  min- 
ister to  industrial  art,  and  of  both  combined  to  reign  over 
the  broad  interests  of  mankind  and  the  work  which  occu- 
pies their  life. 

The  British  Government,  as  we  have  seen,  imme- 
diately after  the  first  great  International  Exposition,  or- 
ganized schools  in  all  the  commercial  and  industrial  cen- 
ters throughout  the  kingdom  for  the  education  of  working 
people  in  the  various  branches  of  science  bearing  uj^on 
their  pursuits,  with  night-classes  for  those  who  could  not 


316    EDUCATIOX  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

attend  during  the  day.  In  tliis,  England  but  followed 
the  course  which  had  been  adopted  long  before  in  nearly 
all  the  Continental  countries ;  and  indeed  in  those  days 
she  had  to  import  her  chemists  and  other  practical  men 
of  science  from  Germany  and  Switzerland.  "Within  the 
last  few  years  technological  institutions  have  been  in  act- 
ive operation  in  the  United  States,  and  extensive  accom- 
modation is  now  furnished  in  several  of  our  colleges  for 
instruction  in  all  the  applied  sciences.  But,  as  has  been 
before  remarked,  these  institutions  are  within  the  reach 
of  only  a  few  of  the  children  in  the  public  schools,  and 
it  is  therefore  a  matter  of  sincere  congratulation  that  ar- 
rangements, more  or  less  liberal,  are  now  made  for  teach- 
ing some  of  the  broad  truths  of  elementary  science  in 
the  public  schools,  especially  in  the  high-schools,  many  of 
which  possess  philosophical  apparatus  to  illustrate  the 
studies  by  experiments  which  lead  to  practical  results. 
"We  have  every  facility  in  the  United  States  for  teaching 
the  whole  people  the  general  truths  of  science.  Unlike 
any  other  nation,  which  had  to  begin  at  the  beginning 
by  organizing  a  national  system  of  education,  ours  is  al- 
ready in  existence,  and  the  education  of  the  body  of  the 
people  in  general  knowledge  has  prepared  them  in  the 
best  manner  for  mastering  a  degree  of  accurate  informa- 
tion in  one  or  more  of  the  sciences  which  bear  upon 
their  industry.  There  are  but  few  pursuits  above  that 
of  common  labor  which  do  not  require  for  their  suc- 
cessful prosecution  information  of  this  character ;  for 
science  is  now  connected  with  all  branches  of  productive 
industry.  Chemistry  is  connected  with  many  arts  besides 
ao-riculture  ;  physics  is  connected  with  mechanical  indus- 
try of  every  description,  and  mathematics  is  the  basis  of 


WORKSHOPS   AND   IIIGII-SCIIOOLS.  31 7 

innumerable  arts  indispensable  to  civilization.  Education 
in  the  nidiments  of  science  is  a  requirement  and  almost  a 
necessity  in  present  conditions.  No  great  innovation  is 
required.  The  study  has  already  been  ingrafted  on  the 
course,  and  all  that  is  necessary  to  render  this  available 
for  technical  purposes  is  laboratory  instruction  in  chem- 
istry, physics,  and  mechanic  art.  It  is  suggested  that 
the  laboratory  should  be  attached  to  the  high-school,  and 
should  consist  of  tvs^o  branches — one  for  scientific  appara- 
tus and  experiment,  and  the  other  for  machinery,  tools, 
and  workshop  practice ;  and  that  in  both  the  teaching 
should  be  by  classes,  and  the  students  be  required  to  per- 
form experiments  when  sufficiently  advanced  in  labora- 
tory studies,  and  to  learn  their  manual  application  in  the 
workshop  at  stated  periods,  at  least  twice  a  week.*  This 
is  not  in  any  sense  a  special  course  of  study,  but  a  general 
course  in  which  the  facts  of  science  and  art  could  be  mas- 
tered in  much  less  time  and  more  pleasantly  every  way 
than  are  the  abstract  rules  of  rote-lessons  which  can  be 
of  little  or  no  subsequent  benefit ;  and  it  is  here  that  the 
approach  between  literary  and  manual  instruction  is  re- 
vealed, and  where  they  manifestly  exert  a  mutual  and 
co-operative  influence.  We  insist  that  all  this  is  perfectly 
consistent  with  the  idea  of  general  training  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  knowledge,  for  it  is  designed  only  to  teach  what 
is  of  great  value  to  all  the  pursuits  of  life,  without  teach- 
ing a  particular  trade  to  any  one.  And  it  is  claimed  that 
a  general  training  in  the  laws  of  nature  will  not  only 

*  To  obtain  tlas  very  object,  Mr.  Seaver,  Superintendent  of  Public 
Schools  in  Boston,  proposes  to  establish  a  central  Industrial  High  School, 
in  which  the  pupils  may  be  instructed  in  the  use  of  tools  preparatoiy  for 
actual  life. 


318    EDUCATION  IX  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

develop  the  intellectual  faculties,  but  fit  the  student  to 
master  the  special  pursuit  which  he  intends  to  follow. 

It  may  be  objected  that  the  knowledge  thus  acquired 
would  be  superficial  and  of  little  or  no  use,  and  that  no 
important  results  would  be  worked  out  by  any  one  having 
only  a  little  knowledge  in  a  little  corner  of  some  science. 
Kemember  that  this  training,  in  a  great  majority  of  in- 
stances, will  be  followed  up  by  a  special  application  in 
some  particular  branch  of  industry.  It  is,  therefore,  only 
preparatory  to  practical  work.  Elementary  acquirements 
are  about  all  that  education  can  bestow,  and  we  know  that 
they  generally  sufiice  for  success.  To  disparage  them  as 
superficial  is,  therefore,  to  disparage  all  educational  ac- 
quirements. There  are  a  set  of  important  facts  which  are 
attainable  at  school,  and  which  will  be  serviceable  all 
through  life ;  and  they  are  about  as  far  removed  from 
profound  erudition  on  the  one  hand  as  they  are  from  sci- 
olism on  the  other.  This  species  of  knowledge  ought  to 
be  included  in  what  is  taught  by  the  school.  In  physics, 
for  instance,  how  could  the  steam-engine  be  so  well  un- 
derstood as  by  its  presence  in  the  workshop,  and  the 
analysis  of  its  parts  and  powers  explained  while  in  mo- 
tion ?  How  could  picture-making  by  the  aid  of  a  sun- 
beam be  so  easily  learned  as  from  the  camera  of  an 
actual  operator ;  or  the  wonderful  results  of  electricity,  as 
when  worked  out  by  instruments  intended  for  the  illus- 
tration of  these  phenomena  ?  It  becomes  evident  by 
such  examples  that  science  is  not  the  exclusive  monopoly 
of  the  learned,  but  that  it  belongs  to  every  man,  woman, 
and  child  who  passes  through  the  public  schools,  and 
that  it  is  as  much  a  part  of  art  and  industry  as  of  philos^ 
ophy  and  physic. 


CITY   AND   GUILDS   OF   LONDON   INSTITUTE.  319 

Mr.  Philip  Magnus,  the  very  able  Director  and  Secre- 
tary of  the  City  and  Guilds  of  London  Institute,  in  his 
introductory  address  at  the  opening  of  the  Finsbury 
Technical  College,  in  discussing  the  relation  of  science  to 
industry,  said  that  the  teaching  in  that  school  would  be 
practical ;  that  more  would  be  done  in  the  laboratories 
and  workshops  than  in  the  lecture-room,  and  that  it  might 
rather  be  said  that  the  lectures  would  form  a  commentary 
on  the  practical  work,  than  that  the  practical  work  would 
serve  only  to  illustrate  the  lectures ;  that  the  main  pur- 
pose of  the  teaching  in  that  institution  wouki  be  to  ex- 
plain to  those  preparing  for  industrial  work,  or  ah-eady 
engaged  in  it,  the  principles  of  science  that  have  a  direct 
bearing  upon  their  occupation,  so  that  they  might  be  en- 
abled to  think  back  from  the  processes  they  see  to  the 
causes  underlying  them,  and  thus  substitute  scientific 
method  for  the  mere  rule  of  thumb. 

Having  mentioned  the  City  and  Guilds  of  London  In- 
stitute, I  again  advert  to  it  as  probably  tlie  most  complete 
scheme  of  technical  education  that  has  been  devised.  It 
originated  with  the  guilds  or  trades  of  the  metropolis  ; 
and  their  principal  object  is  to  promote  the  advancement 
of  technical  education  in  the  United  Kingdom  by  a  system 
of  laboratory  and  workshop  instruction  with  explanatory 
lectures,  both  in  the  day-time  and  in  the  evening,  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  are  engaged  or  about  to  be  engaged 
in  industrial  pursuits.  The  Finsbury  Technical  College 
is  one  of  its  adjuncts,  and  it  establishes  other  branches  or 
assists  those  already  established  in  various  parts  of  the 
country  with  both  means  and  teachers  ;  and  confers  cer- 
tificates upon  all  persons  who  can  successfully  pass  exami- 
nations, which  it  conducts  in  all  the  principal  towns  and 


320    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

cities  wliere  a  sufficient  number  of  those  who  are  compe- 
tent can  be  found.  This  work  it  has  successfully  prose- 
cuted for  the  last  three  years,  and  it  promises  more  for 
the  future  to  the  industrial  classes  than  any  other  system 
in  England,  not  even  excepting  the  noble  institution  at 
Kensington  and  its  schools  of  art  and  science.  The  sys- 
tem coincides  with  the  suggestions  in  this  chapter,  and 
fully  vindicates  the  views  just  expressed.  Our  public 
schools  would  enable  us  to  introduce  technical  training 
generally,  and  to  make  it  omnipresent  in  the  education  of 
all  the  children,  and  consequently  of  the  whole  people. 


CHAPTER  XYL 

Chemistry  as  an  iadustrial  science — Its  necessity  in  the  art  of  dyeing — 
Colors  elaborated  by  chemists — Those  derived  from  coal-tar — Its  use 
in  the  fine  arts  and  in  other  industries — Mathematics  illustrated  in  the 
useful  arts — Views  of  Herbert  Spencer  and  Dr.  Dick — Hydrostatics — 
Principles  of  the  law  of  fluids  and  their  application  to  industrial  purposes 
— Electricity  as  a  mechanical  agent — Its  subserviency  to  man's  direc- 
tion— Its  wide  diffusion  and  power — Progress  made,  and  the  new  arts 
to  which  it  is  applied — Geology  and  mineralogy — Geological  deductions 
— Irregularities  in  formation  and  their  study — Various  facts  of  the  sci- 
ence set  forth,  which  have  been  applied  to  artificial  uses — Mineral 
wealth  of  the  United  States — Methodical  study  in  our  schools — The 
division  of  labor — Applied  in  every  branch  of  industry,  especially  where 
machinery  is  used — If  one  has  been  educated  in  the  mechanic  art,  he  is 
not  likely  to  become  a  machine — Technic  knowledge  opens  access  to 
many  occupations — The  invention  of  labor  saving  machines  frequent  in 
this  country — Universal  education,  its  advantages — American  inventions 
— London  "  Times  "  on  the  exhibit  at  the  Paris  Exposition,  1878 — Those 
in  general  use — Causes  of  inventive  activity — Classical  learning,  a  di- 
gression— Amherst — The  English  language — Greek  and  Latin  should 
not  take  all  the  time  and  space — True  knowledge  not  to  be  sacrificed 
to  verbalism — The  ingenuity  of  the  people  is  a  national  characteristic 
— Plan  of  education  at  Athens — Rome — In  Germany — In  France — Eng- 
land— Scotland — Lord  Bacon  and  Locke — Bede  and  Alcuin — Mechani- 
cal training  to  develop  our  capacities — The  effect  of  machinery  upon 
the  condition  of  the  working-man — Various  instances  cited — Does  it 
dispense  with  his  vocation  ? — Agricultural  implements — The  railroad — 
Iron  ships — Improvements  give  more  and  finer  work  than  they  displace 
— Machinery  depends  upon  scientific  principles — A  knowledge  of  these 
important  to  the  artisan  who  fabricates  them — The  study  of  mechanic 
art  indispensable — Industrial  instruction — England  and  France — It  is  a 
public  question — It  is  a  mistake  to  wait  for  local  industries  to  begin 
the  educational  work — Wealth,  population,  and  intelligence. 

It  was  argued  in  the  preceding  chapter  that  there  is 

no  branch  of  industrial  art  which  does  not  owe  its  irn- 
15 


322    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

proved  processes  to  an  application  of  the  laws  of  science. 
A  knowledge  of  chemistry,  for  instance,  is  indispensable 
in  many  of  the  most  laborious  as  well  as  in  many  of  the 
most  ingenious  and  refined  of  the  arts.  The  wonderful 
developments  in  the  art  of  dyeing,  within  the  last  thirty 
years,  have  been  in  a  great  measure  owing  to  the  investi- 
gations of  such  chemists  as  Davy,  Dupuy,  Bergmann,  and 
Berthold,  into  the  principles  of  impressing  permanent 
colors  upon  silk  and  cotton  tissues.  The  colors  they  have 
elaborated  of  a  vegetable  and  mineral  origin  are  computed 
at  over  fifty  in  number,  and  those  from  coal-tar,  which  are 
entirely  new,  rival  in  brilliancy  and  beauty  the  tints  of 
the  rainbow.  The  mordants  which  fix  the  colors  in  the 
fiber  are  also  entirely  dependent  on  the  close  observance 
of  chemical  formute.  Chemistry  is  also  of  signal  impor- 
tance to  the  fine  arts,  and  to  glass  and  paper  makers.  A 
knowledge  of  some  of  its  details  is  constantly  in  practical 
use  by  the  miner  and  the  metallurgist,  while  in  the  new 
arts  of  photography,  gilding  metals,  vulcanizing  India- 
rubber,  in  making  stearine  candles,  and  extracting  sugar 
from  other  materials,  the  influence  of  this  science  is  never 
relaxed  for  a  moment. 

Mathematical  rules  are  universal  in  all  forms  of  con- 
struction, and  are  constantly  applied  by  the  builder,  the 
engineer,  the  mason,  the  brick-layer,  the  carpenter,  the 
machinist,  and  the  navigator.  They  are  often  laid  down 
in  mathematical  tables  which  may  be  relied  upon  with 
safety  in  measuring  the  strength  of  materials,  the  trans- 
mission of  mechanical  power,  and  in  many  other  particu- 
lars which  illustrate  their  respective  trades.  But  the 
engineer  who  lays  down  a  meridian,  or  the  sea-captain 
who  reckons  his  latitude  and  longitude,  or  the  architect 


APPLIED  SCIENCE.  323 

who  determines  the  structure  of  a  bridge,  or  the  mason 
who  ascertains  the  strength  of  his  materials  by  the  tabu- 
lated formulge,  works  by  rule  of  thumb,  unless  he  can 
explain  the  elementary  principles  of  geometry,  or  the 
scientific  theories  from  which  these  rules  are  derived. 
He  is  like  the  boy  who  commits  the  abstract  rules  of 
grammar,  without  understanding  their  meaning.  He  is 
not  a  rule  to  himself,  for  he  blindly  follows  the  tables, 
and  is  incapable  of  any  force  when  a  case  is  presented 
which  requires  a  critical  opinion.  Herbert  Spencer  dwells 
upon  the  importance  of  geometry  in  practical  and  tech- 
nical education,  and  he  declares  that  in  the  higher  forms 
of  construction  some  acquaintance  with  it  is  indispensa- 
ble, and  he  proceeds  to  show  by  numerous  examples  how 
much  it  is  involved  in  every  pursuit  and  productive  pro- 
cess. Dr.  Dick  also  dwells  on  its  utility  and  importance, 
and  shows  that  upon  the  demonstrated  properties  of  a  tri- 
angle depend  some  of  the  greatest  truths  which  we  ac- 
cept without  knowing  the  reasoning  upon  which  they 
depend,  or  perceiving  the  important  bearings  which  they 
exert  upon  our  daily  life. 

A  thorough  knowledge  of  the  law  of  fluids  is  also 
serviceable  for  various  reasons.  Take,  for  example,  the 
blunder  of  the  ancient  engineers,  who  acted  upon  the  er- 
roneous notion  about  water  not  running  up-hill.  They 
erected  magnificent  arches  and  costly  conduits  across 
wide-spread  valleys  and  over  mountains,  to  convey  water 
from  a  distance  into  the  city  of  Rome.  We  can  now 
water  a  city  with  cast-iron  pipes,  because  we  understand 
the  law  relating  to  the  pressure  of  fluids,  and  can  carry 
them  along  the  most  circuitous  routes,  upon  the  bottom 
of  valleys  however  broad,  and  up  the  hill-sides  again. 


324    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

provided  only  that  the  destination  of  the  stream  is  not 
quite  so  high  as  the  fountain-head  from  which  it  comes. 
This  is  on  the  same  principle  that  artesian  wells  overflow 
the  plain  in  proportion  to  the  height  of  the  distant  mount- 
ains from  which  the  water  is  conducted.  This  single 
principle  is  the  basis  of  an  infinite  series  of  phenomena 
in  the  science  of  hydrostatics.  From  it  is  derived  the 
rule  that  fluids  press  on  every  quarter  laterally  and  verti- 
cally ;  that  they  can  rise  no  higher  than  the  reservoir  from 
which  they  are  drawn  ;  that  the  liquid  in  a  tube  will  coun- 
terbalance that  in  a  cistern  with  which  it  is  connected ; 
that  when  compressed  it  will  rend  and  tear  up  with  the 
force  of  gunpow^der,  and  that  when  expanded  into  vapor 
it  can  drive  an  ocean  steamer,  or  perforate  the  solid  strata 
of  the  earth.  These  principles  in  the  law  of  fluids  are 
exceedingly  valuable  in  their  application  to  a  large  num- 
ber of  industrial  purposes,  and  their  prodigious  power  is 
seen  in  dry  and  wet  docks,  hydraulic  presses,  water-mills, 
steam-engines,  and  fountains.  Many  other  uses  might  be 
mentioned,  for  the  engineer  and  machinist  have  exhaust- 
less  treasures  of  energy  in  the  simple  and  abundant  ele- 
ment of  water.  Then  consider  the  marvels  of  electricity. 
In  the  opinion  of  many  learned  persons,  the  mechanical 
agencies  now  in  use  are  exceedingly  inconvenient  and 
cumbersome,  requiring  an  enormous  outlay  and  expense 
for  the  production  of  motive  power  alone.  It  is  asserted 
that  when  our  mechanicians  become  acquainted  with  the 
power,  abundance,  and  availability  of  electricity  for  this 
purpose,  these  costly  expedients  will  be  superseded  by 
infinitely  better  and  cheaper  ones.  These  important 
changes  can  only  advance  from  a  knowledge  of  scientific 
principles.     We  know  even  in  its  present  state  of  imper- 


APPLIED  SCIEXCE.  325 

fection  that,  althoufirh  electricity  wantons  under  the  form 
of  the  wildest  contrasts — at  one  instant  a  destroying  tem- 
pest and  the  next  coursing  the  free  air  with  the  gentle  ele- 
ments of  life — yet  it  is  the  phenomenon  of  a  constant  law  ; 
and  that  its  subservience  to  man's  direction  is  as  unlimited 
as  it  is  implicit.  Since  the  discovery  of  magneto-elec- 
tricity by  Oersted,  and  the  experiments  of  Faraday  and 
Henry,  it  can  be  generated  by  artificial  means,  and,  like 
dynamite  or  gunpowder,  packed  up  for  transmission  to 
any  distance  without  diminishing  any  of  its  concentrated 
energies.  The  imagination  revels  in  the  wildest  specu- 
lations as  to  the  multitudinous  uses  to  which  it  will  be 
applied.  It  is  not  only  to  aid  all  the  arts,  but  to  super- 
sede most  of  them  by  its  innumerable  utilities.  There 
are  those  who  even  attribute  to  it  the  principal  elements 
of  animal  life  and  the  endless  variety  of  form  and  beauty 
in  the  vegetable  world,  and  who  also  claim  that  it  pre- 
vails in  a  high  degree  in  the  senses  by  which  we  hear 
and  see,  and  by  which  we  taste  and  feel.  But,  however 
alluring  the  picture  presented  to  us  by  the  enthusiast,  let 
it  be  borne  in  mind  that  progress  can  only  be  made  from 
a  knowledge  of  scientific  principles,  either  in  original  dis- 
coveries, or  in  their  application  to  practical  purposes.  In 
the  mean  time  the  progress  made  is  verified  in  many  ways. 
It  encircles  the  earth's  circumference  with  our  messacres. 
almost  as  soon  as  spoken  ;  it  solves  the  most  refractory 
substances  like  wax,  and  the  hardest  metals  burn  like 
paper  in  its  incandescence  ;  it  illuminates  our  streets  and 
will  soon  do  the  same  for  our  houses,  with  a  light  four- 
fold that  of  the  sun's  rays ;  while  telegraphs,  telephones, 
photophones,  photographs,  microphones,  and  kindred  con- 
trivances, show  that  this  mysterious  agent  which  transmits 


326    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

our  messages  can  also  assume  many  sliapes  and  perform 
countless  services  to  our  race. 

And,  again,  the  principles  of  geology  and  mineralogy 
must  necessarily  be  understood  by  persons  engaged  in 
many  pursuits ;  for  a  knowledge  of  geological  formations 
becomes  important  in  discovering  the  mineral  combina- 
tions with  which  they  are  usually  associated.  Especially 
is  this  knowledge  exceedingly  useful  in  ascertaining  the 
location  of  mineral  treasures,  and  where  the  ores  and  mar- 
bles range  beneath  the  earth's  surface. 

Geological  investigations  fully  demonstrate  that,  away 
back  in  remote  ages,  volcanic  forces  were  rending  the 
solid  strata  of  the  earth,  turning  the  inside  out  and 
the  outside  in,  and  preparing  the  way  for  the  aggrega- 
tion, arrangement,  and  order  of  the  minei-al  kingdom, 
and  the  evolution  of  the  fluids  required  for  the  nourish- 
ment of  plants,  and  the  elements  of  electricity,  nitro- 
gen, carbon,  and  other  agents  necessary  to  the  composi- 
tion of  the  atmosphere,  and  for  the  maintenance  of 
animated  being.  Homogeneous  particles,  widely  sepa- 
rated, were  brought  into  union,  becoming  artificers  in  the 
great  laboratories  of  nature,  assembling  the  waters  in 
masses  and  the  rocks  into  solid  strata  by  affinity,  generat- 
ing trees  and  flowers  on  the  exterior,  and  preparing  with- 
in the  dark  bosom  of  the  earth  the  coal-measures,  the 
vein  for  the  silver,  the  matrix  for  the  gold,  the  quartz 
for  the  crystal,  the  topas,  the  onyx,  the  sapphire,  and  the 
diamond  ;  the  cavities  for  sulphur,  for  salt,  soda,  and 
quicksilver ;  and  the  beds  for  iron,  copper,  tin,  and  plati- 
num. Tlie  minerals  are  not,  however,  diffused  through- 
out the  earth's  strata  with  perfect  uniformity,  for  in  that 
case  mineralogy  would  be  an  easy  study.     Every  country 


APrLIED  SCIENCE.  327 

and  island  on  the  face  of  the  globe  contains  unmistakable 
evidence  of  volcanic  action  in  the  disposition  of  its  min- 
eral veins  and  rocky  beds,  by  which  they  have  been  thrown 
out  of  place  and  mingled  with  sands,  shells,  and  shifting 
soils.  Hence  the  mineralogical  combinations  which  so 
often  baffle  the  ignorant  and  disappoint  the  hopeful.  The 
study  of  these  irregularities  is  very  instructive,  and  it  is 
no  exaggeration  to  say  that  millions  of  dollars  have  been 
squandered  in  useless  experiments  for  want  of  under- 
standing them. 

This  knowledge  has  been  applied  widely  to  artificial 
uses,  and  will  be  still  more  widely  utilized  by  the  making 
of  all  natural  substances  serve  us  more  and  more.  There 
is  scarcely  a  mineral  that  can  not  be  found  in  the  United 
States.  We  have  even  statuary  marble  and  unexpected 
veins  of  sulphur.  "We  have  inexhaustible  wells  of  naph- 
tha, petroleum,  silver-bearing  veins,  and  an  auriferous 
region  of  vast  extent.  We  have  mines  of  coal  and  iron, 
of  lead  and  copper,  which  are  found  to  be  most  abun- 
dant, besides  many  other  sources  of  natural  wealth  that 
are  being  constantly  developed  from  the  cavities  of  the 
earth.  It  is  needless  to  dwell  upon  the  impetus  which 
these  developments  have  given  to  the  industrial  arts,  and 
the  wealth  and  power  they  have  yielded  to  the  coun- 
try. The  immense  value  of  knowledge  in  regard  to 
mincralistic  properties  will  be  admitted  by  all,  and  is  the 
strong  reason  why  the  methodical  study  of  this  science 
should  be  made  in  our  schools.  Our  youth  ought  to  be 
put  in  a  fair  way  to  educate  themselves  and  to  apply  the 
laws  of  science  in  the  pursuit  of  any  vocation  in  which 
they  might  engage.  And  when  we  reflect  upon  the  value 
of  the  mineral  kingdom  to  man,  and  learn  from  history 


328    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

that  the  advance  and  retrogression  of  human  opinions  and 
enterprises  can  be  measured  by  the  refinement  of  the  arts 
dependent  upon  it,  we  must  certainly  be  constrained  to 
accord  to  a  study  of  its  treasures  the  very  highest  rank  in 
the  sphere  of  industrial  science. 

But  without  entering  into  the  particulars  of  all  the 
branches  of  industrial  science,  perhaps  enough  has  been 
suggested  to  show  how  intimately  they  are  connected 
with  all  useful  pursuits. 

The  course  we  propose  seems  entirely  practicable,  for 
tlie  fundamental  principles  of  the  industrial  sciences  can 
be  illustrated  by  experiments  that  will  be  exceedingly  in- 
structive and  interesting.  There  already  exists  in  many 
of  the  high-schools  a  scientific  course  that  can  be  easily 
extended  as  required.  Let  a  workshop  be  constructed  as 
already  suggested  with  each  high-school,  consisting  of  one 
or  more  rooms,  and  equipped  with  lathes,  vises,  carpen- 
ters' benches,  machines  for  testing  the  strength  of  ma- 
terials, a  steam-engine  and  boiler,  and  apparatus  for  ex- 
periments on  gases,  fluids,  etc. 

As  regards  instruction,  there  should  be  a  professor  of 
applied  mechanics  who  should  lecture  on  machines  and 
mechanism,  on  materials  used  in  structures,  the  steam- 
engine,  electricity,  the  mechanical  properties  of  gases, 
liquids,  and  mechanical  drawing  and  geometry,  and  per- 
haps pneumatics  and  optics.  Under  the  professor  there 
ought  to  be  a  skilled  workman  to  give  workshop  instruc- 
tion in  the  practical  use  of  tools  and  machinery,  and  the 
conversion  of  materials  into  various  forms  of  construc- 
tion. Perhaps  the  same  object  can  be  accomplished 
by  transferring  into  the  ordinary  course  some  one  or 
more  of  the  excellent  programmes  that  have  been  tried 


WORKSHOP  INSTRUCTION.  329 

and  tested  in  tlie  industrial  schools  in  this  country  or 
abroad. 

The  course  should  comprehend  two  lessons  per  week 
for  at  least  thirty-five  weeks  in  the  year  for  each  class, 
and  the  classes  might  be  so  arranged  that  each  in  its  turn 
would  receive  the  same  instruction.  In  order  to  have 
time  for  this  purpose,  if  necessary,  other  studies  might 
be  diminished  by  requiring  a  less  amount  to  be  memo- 
rized, less  reading,  less  geography,  less  grammar  and  de- 
fining. I  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  sentiments  of 
the  best  teachers  are  that  too  much  time  is  allotted  to 
these  lessons.  One  or  two  lessons  a  week  in  applied 
science  and  the  manipulations  of  industrial  implements 
would  relieve  the  excess  of  intellectual  studies,  and  make 
them  more  interesting  and  easy,  because  they  would  be 
inculcated  by  examples  which  employ  the  senses  as  well 
as  the  mind.  The  pupils  would  see  and  do  the  things  as 
well  as  memorize  the  formulae,  and  they  would  compre- 
hend them  while  being  taught.  If  the  phenomena  of 
nature  appear  marvelous  to  children,  the  art  by  which 
man  has  illustrated  them  is  still  more  interesting,  and  the 
inventions  by  which  he  has  compelled  them  to  do  his 
work  fills  them  with  delight. 

The  reform  is  easily  practiced  and  immediately  appli- 
cable. It  comes  in  aid  of  general  studies,  and  introduces 
into  education  both  life  and  unity,  for  it  will  cultivate  not 
one  faculty  or  class  of  faculties  exclusively,  but  all. 

In  the  possession  of  scholars  exclusively  the  existence 
or  infiuence  of  science  is  scarcely  appreciable,  but  in  the 
hands  of  the  artisan  it  is  applied  to  all  the  useful  articles 
and  purposes  of  life.  Shall  we  teach  our  children  only 
to  open  their  eyes  to  wonder  at  such  things,  and  then 


330    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

fold  their  arms  instead  of  learning  to  master  and  applj 
them  ? 

The  division  of  labor  may  be  named  as  a  settled  con- 
dition of  productive  industry  ;  and  it  is  asserted  by  many 
that  it  is  to  this  influence  we  owe  our  superiority  in  many 
of  the  arts  of  life,  if  not  our  position  in  the  scale  of  civ- 
ilization. This  principle  has  been  applied  to  almost  every 
branch  of  industry  ;  and  there  are  now  few  articles  manu- 
factured by  the  aid  of  machinery  that  are  not  distributed 
to  as  many  separate  workmen  as  there  are  individual 
parts.  This  minute  division  of  labor  undoubtedly  facili- 
tates production,  and  perhaps  insures  perfection  of  work- 
manship ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  claimed  that,  as  it 
confines  a  man  to  the  same  operation,  he  gets  to  perform  it 
in  a  monotonous  way,  without  exercising  his  understand- 
ing or  inventive  faculties,  and  that  he  is  therefore  likely 
to  become  almost  as  much  of  a  machine  as  the  automaton 
he  guides.  Man  has  been  defined  to  be  an  animal  who 
makes  machines,  but,  if  he  has  been  educated  to  think,  it 
is  not  at  all  necessary  that  by  his  work  he  should  himself 
be  changed  into  one.  If  he  has  been  taught  the  compli- 
cated elements  of  mechanic  art  in  theory  and  practice, 
and  understands  the  principles  which  underlie  the  process 
of  which  he  performs  but  a  small  part,  he  will  be  restless 
to  contrive  expedients  to  better  his  condition  or  his  work, 
and  will  at  least  be  sure  to  experience  the  exhilaration 
which  springs  from  the  exercise  of  ingenuity  and  skill ; 
and  in  case  a  new  invention  should  sweep  away  his  frag- 
ment of  a  trade,  instead  of  becoming  an  industrial  out- 
cast, dependent  upon  chance  jobs  for  a  precarious  living, 
he  falls  back  upon  his  technic  knowledge,  which  opens 
access  to  a  multitude  of  occupations. 


OUR  INVENTIVE    GENIUS.  331 

Many  labor-saving  machines  have  thus  been  invented 
by  ingenious  workmen  as  a  substitute  for  their  hand-work. 
These  instances  are  common  among  American  mechan- 
ics. The  general  intelligence  of  our  people,  resulting  from 
their  universal  education,  infuses  a  corresponding  habit  of 
thought  in  all  human  pursuits.  We  do  not  know  from 
modern  history  of  a  development  in  discovery  or  inven- 
tion, extending  from  those  that  are  useless  to  those  that 
are  admirable,  that  can  be  compared  with  what  has  hap- 
pened in  the  United  States  within  the  last  thirty  years. 
They  would  require  many  volumes  to  do  anything  like 
justice  to  those  alone  which  have  merits.  The  columns 
of  newspapers  are  filled  w^th  advertisements  of  these  me- 
chanical novelties,  and  our  hardware-stores  are  magazines 
of  them.  Some  of  them  appear  almost  imbued  with  in- 
telligence. We  have,  for  instance,  machines  for  paring 
apples  and  picking  huckleberries  ;  for  plucking  feathers 
from  live  geese  and  taking  pits  out  of  cherries ;  for  put- 
ting up  packages,  soldering  tin  cans,  and  counting  cash  ; 
a  flexible  shaft  for  carrying  power  round  corners ;  and 
a  shoe  apparatus  which  will  convert  a  hide  into  shoes  in 
about  as  short  a  time  as  a  cobbler  could  pound  a  single 
piece  of  leather  on  his  lap-stone. 

Remarking  on  this  idiosyncrasy,  the  London  "  Times  " 
wrote  that  "  the  N^ew-Englander  is  an  inventive  animal. 
We  are  told  that  his  brain  has  a  bias  that  way.  He  is 
always  restless  to  fix  up  something  in  a  more  convenient 
fashion  than  it  has  ever  been  fixed  before.  No  matter 
what  his  training  or  what  his  calling,  his  mind  is  work- 
ing in  a  kind  of  back-yard  over  some  idea  for  economiz- 
ing labor ;  he  mechanizes  as  an  old  Greek  sculptured,  as 
the  Yenetian   painted,  or  the  modern   Italian   sings ;  a 


332    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

school  Las  grown  up  whose  dominant  quality,  curiously 
intense,  wide-spread,  and  daring,  is  mechanical  imagina- 
tion." 

Indeed,  it  is  not,  when  fairly  and  discreetly  examined, 
an  arrogant  claim  to  compare  the  practical  inventions  of 
our  w^orkshops  with  those  of  the  whole  world  arrayed 
seriatim.  This  was  seen  in  Machinery  Hall  at  the  Cen- 
tennial, and  again  at  the  Paris  Exposition  in  1878,  where 
our  mechanical  display,  though  small  in  space,  took  all 
Europe  by  surprise,  and  gave  the  palm  of  originality  in 
practical  invention  superlatively  in  our  favor. 

In  the  leading  and  more  important  inventions,  the 
instances  of  American  genius  are  almost  equally  mani- 
fest. All  parts  of  the  civilized  world  use  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent  American  inventions.  The  applications  of 
steam  to  the  propulsion  of  vessels,  the  perfect  conduct- 
ibility  of  the  electric  fluid  and  its  use  for  purposes  of 
communication,  the  propeller,  the  turret  gunship,  the 
revolver  and  breech-loading  ordnance  that  have  changed 
the  manoeuvres  of  war;  chloroform  and  artificial  limbs 
to  assuage  human  suffering ;  the  telephone  and  electric 
light ;  an  almost  endless  variety  of  agricultural  imple- 
ments which  have  revolutionized  the  tillage  of  the  soil ; 
gutta-percha  and  its  marvelous  applications  ;  the  writing- 
machine  and  the  pegging  and  sewing  machines,  are  among 
the  inventions  which  have  sprung  from  the  rich  store- 
house of  American  ingenuity,  and  which  have  success- 
fully linked  themselves  with  the  industrial  arts  and  em- 
ployments of  the  world. 

Our  thorough  system  of  general  education  may  claim 
a  large  influence  in  creating  this  inventive  activity,  for 
intelligence  makes  men  quick  to  see  what  is  needed,  and 


OUR   INVENTIVE   GENIUS.  333 

fertile  in  expedients  to  render  their  labor  more  easy  and 
efficient.  An  ignorant  man  is  not  moved  by  such  mo- 
tives, and  learns  little  from  experience.  General  instruc- 
tion is  therefore  a  great  advantage,  and  when  the  stu- 
dents enter  npon  practical  work — which,  however,  they 
now  seldom  do — it  greatly  stimulates  all  the  faculties  to 
save  labor  and  expense.  It  ought,  however,  to  be  under- 
stood that  to  teach  those  branches  which  train  the  intel- 
lect alone  is  instruction,  but  in  no  true  sense  education. 
This  theory  does  not  account  wholly  for  the  inventive 
faculty.  The  high  price  of  labor  which  seeks  for  less 
expensive  methods,  the  protection  of  the  patent-law,  and 
the  great  pecuniary  value  of  a  successful  invention,  have 
been  powerful  motives  to  these  triumphs  of  industrial 
art.  But  to  all  these  must  be  added  the  innate  resources 
of  the  American  people,  by  means  of  which  this  country 
has  so  successfully  assumed  the  place  it  holds  in  national 
existence.  This  gift  can  only  be  carried  to  its  greatest 
usefulness  by  cultivating  the  faculties  with  which  it  is 
intimately  associated.  How  shall  we  popularize  labor, 
so  that  it  shall  attract  intelligent  men  and  so  pave  the 
way  to  improvements  grander  and  cheaper  than  any  that 
have  yet  appeared  ?  Manual  knowledge  in  mechanic  art 
is  required  by  the  masses,  who  have  no  fortune  except 
their  hands,  and  who  can  see  no  way  of  subsistence  ex- 
cept by  their  eyes.  What  is  to  be  done  with  this  vast 
population  ?  To  win  them  to  the  knowledge  and  attrac- 
tion of  work  is  the  great  mission  of  the  new  education. 
Knowledge  becomes  attractive  when  related  to  our  busi- 
ness. It  is  time  to  see  this  as  one  of  the  ends  of  educa- 
tion. What  would  we  think  of  the  husbandman  who 
should  cultivate  the  lilies  of  the  field  for  their  beauty 


334    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

and  fragrance,  and  neglect  all  the  homely  but  useful 
plants  that  produce  wealth  and  support  physical  exist- 
ence ?  And  this  is  very  like  the  vice  of  our  school  and 
college  system.  The  common  truths  of  science  and  art 
have  been  abducted  by  the  professors  of  verbalism,  and 
their  living  sympathies  with  our  needs  and  necessities 
have  been  postponed  for  the  business  education  of  prac- 
tical life.  I  do  not  wish  to  speak  in  any  narrow  spirit 
of  classical  learning,  but  it  is  notorious  that  the  critical 
study  of  the  dead  languages  exists  nowhere  in  this  coun- 
try except  for  a  very  limited  sphere  of  scholarship,  and 
it  is  made  optional  after  the  first  year  in  the  courses  of 
some  of  our  oldest  universities.  Like  everything  else  in 
nature,  it  has  its  time  and  place,  but,  instead  of  occupying 
nearly  all  the  time  and  all  the  space,  let  it  be  curtailed  to 
the  limited  necessities  imposed  by  modern  conditions,  and 
placed  in  one  of  the  back  seats  where  it  belongs.  To 
teach  in  one  of  the  technological  institutions — like  the 
one  at  Boston — requires  vastly  more  learning  and  real 
attainments  than  to  disseminate  a  knowledge  of  words 
and  language ;  and  yet  the  great  faculties  of  science  and 
art,  and  their  relations  with  industry  and  philosophy,  hold 
an  inferior  rank  in  university  honors.  This  aristocracy 
of  talent  has  monopolized  the  good  things  in  the  garden 
of  knowledge,  and  they  confer  the  degrees  of  Bachelor 
and  Master  of  Arts,  totally  unconscious,  apparently,  of  the 
solecism  they  commit. 

The  correlation  of  science  with  human  sympathies  has 
never  been  frankly  recognized  in  our  colleges,  and  it  is 
not  very  surprising  that  it  is  dying  out  altogether  at  Am- 
herst. Its  place  and  kingdom  have  been  given  to  other 
studies,  not  from  any  want  of  attractiveness  or  vitality  in 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING.  335 

itself,  but  because  it  was  dishonored  in  the  temple  where 
it  should  have  been  worshiped.  To  inform  us  that  the 
youth  of  Amherst  do  not  take  willingly  to  the  study  of 
the  largest  and  noblest  principles  of  haman  knowledge 
ought  not  very  much  to  disappoint  any  one,  since  these 
truths  are  stamped  by  Alma  Mater  herself  socially  and 
intellectually  with  inferiority.  To  trace  tlie  nominatives 
of  Greek  verbs  and  the  relatives  of  Latin  antecedents  in- 
volves a  species  of  mental  discipline,  and  the  excellences 
of  ancient  literatures  will  probably  always  entitle  them  to 
a  reasonable  amount  of  attention.  Our  obligations  to 
the  Greek  and  Latin  races  are  very  numerous  and  very 
important.  Let  us  acknowledge  them  with  gratitude,  but 
at  the  same  time  remember  that  we  have  a  tongue  of  our 
own  which,  although  it  does  not  approach  the  classic  lan- 
guage in  perfect  aualysis,  has  yet  equal  power  of  express- 
ing the  various  forms  of  thought,  and  embalms  a  litera- 
ture of  the  most  elevated  sentiments,  and  conceptions  of 
the  boldest  as  well  as  the  most  harmonious  periods,  and 
of  an  eloquence  vigorous  and  graceful,  massive  and  reso- 
nant in  its  structures.  Its  accent  is  heard  in  every  part 
of  the  habitable  globe.  Why  overlook  this  branch  of  in- 
struction, and  compel  our  youth  to  spend  several  years  of 
their  most  valuable  time  in  acquiring  the  essentials  of 
what  is  termed  a  classical  education?  If  it  is  thought 
best  to  continue  the  propagation  of  this  learning,  it 
should  no  longer  rule  as  king  in  the  domain  of  education  ; 
but  the  children  of  science  imbued  with  the  greatest 
truths,  and  those  of  art  with  their  splendid  retinue  of  re- 
finement and  utility,  should  take  the  time  and  honors  to 
which  they  are  entitled.  All  true  intellectual  culture 
must  depend  upon  the  drawing  forth  of  the  intuitive 


33G    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

powers,  or,  in  other  words,  the  capabiHty  of  generaliza- 
tion and  deduction  should  not  be  sacrificed  to  verbalism, 
or  the  exercise  of  memory  as  distinguished  from  thought. 
There  can  be  no  rival  to  real  knowledge  for  this  work. 
To  the  accurate  sciences  as  our  guides  and  instruments 
we  owe  our  power  of  solving  the  ordinary  inquiries  and 
necessities  of  life,  as  well  as  the  sublimer  problems  of  the 
universe,  and  an  undoubted  supremacy  ought  to  be  yield- 
ed to  them  for  the  enlargement  of  our  views  and  judg- 
ments, and  there  should  be  no  hesitation  in  assigning 
them  the  highest  place  in  any  scheme  of  liberal  educa- 
tion. 

But  to  return  from  this  slight  digression  to  the  subject 
of  the  mechanical  genius  as  developed  in  the  character  of 
the  American  people.  It  must  be  evident  that  any  gen- 
eral system  of  education  for  the  masses,  which  fails  to 
mold  this  singular  ingenuity  and  address  to  certain  ele- 
ments of  knowledge  so  that  they  can  act  intelhgently  on 
all  industrial  objects,  has  either  misunderstood  its  mission, 
or  has  been  unable  to  comprehend  the  mental  circum- 
stances which  represent  the  characteristics  of  the  national 
mind.  Some  predominating  views  or  general  plans  have 
exercised  a  marked  influence  on  the  education  of  almost  all 
nations,  either  ancient  or  modern,  having  reference  to  the 
peculiar  bias  of  the  population.  For  instance,  the  aim  of 
education  at  Athens  was  to  develop  the  genius  of  art  and 
beauty  of  form.  In  Rome,  it  was  directed  to  acquire- 
ments of  general  utility,  and  such  as  would  render  the 
Roman  citizen  prompt  to  serve  his  country.  In  modern 
Europe,  the  Germans  originated  the  Reformation,  invent- 
ed printing  by  movable  types,  and  soon  after  produced 
many  great  artists  whose  works  became  monumental ;  but 


NATIONAL  SYSTEMS  OF  EDUCATION.  337 

they  were  mainly  an  industrious  people  working  in  home- 
ly diligence.  In  conformity  with  this  trait,  they  estab- 
lished the  "  people's  schools  "  all  over  the  land  for  general 
education  adapted  to  the  industrial  classes.  It  was  not 
until  the  middle  of  the  present  century  that  they  began 
to  develop  those  numerous  and  magnificent  schools  for 
instruction  in  almost  every  branch  of  art-workmanship. 

The  French  are  gifted  artistically,  and  consequently 
art-industrial  schools  were  established  at  an  early  day  to 
foster  and  develop  this  principle,  which  seemed  to  be 
original  with  them,  and  which  has  for  centuries  been  the 
foundation  of  their  prosperity.  Eight  centuries  have 
passed  since  Charlemagne  required  every  endowed  mon- 
astery to  support  a  school,  and  arrayed  himself  in  gar- 
ments woven  by  the  scholars  of  industrial  schools  which 
were  attended  by  his  own  children. 

Although  England  is  the  cradle  of  constitutional  free- 
dom, she  does  not  seem  to  have  had  any  plan  or  scheme 
of  education  except  in  the  richly  endowed  universities  for 
the  education  of  the  nobility  and  gentry.  The  learning 
of  Bede  distinguished  him  in  an  age  of  darkness,  and 
Alfred  the  Great  was  a  student  and  writer  whom  tradi- 
tion has  invested  with  every  ideal  of  knowledge  and  vir- 
tue. It  was  the  Anglo-Saxon  monk,  Alcuin,  who  became 
the  preceptor  of  Charlemagne,  and  kindled  the  torch  of 
learning  at  the  court  of  that  great  monarch.  The  philos- 
ophy of  Lord  Bacon  finally  substituted  real  methods  for 
the  sophistical,  and  the  rational  for  that  of  Aristotle  and 
Pythagoras ;  while  soon  afterward  Locke  vindicated  the 
great  principle  that  education  should  consist  in  teaching 
the  truth  of  things  and  enriching  the  intuitive  powers  of 
the  understanding  and  judgment.     But  it  was  not  until 


338    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

the  unfavorable  exhibition  of  her  art  in  industry  at  the 
Crystal  Palace  that  education  befitting  the  people  actually 
commenced  its  brilliant  and  irrepressible  career  in  that 
country,  and  she  has  since  taken  the  lead  of  all  other 
European  countries  except  Germany  for  the  general  edu- 
cation of  the  common  people,  and  the  elevation  and  re- 
finement of  those  engaged  in  her  vast  industrial  pursuits. 

The  Scottish  nation  gave  the  first  example  of  a  free 
church  and  a  public  school.  Recognizing  the  eminently 
practical  qualities  in  the  character  of  the  people,  the  Scot- 
tish reformers  established  a  school  in  every  parish,  and  the 
system  has  been  improved  and  extended  by  the  care  and 
wisdom  of  succeedino^  venerations  so  as  to  make  it  com- 
mensurate  with  the  wants  and  relations  of  merchants, 
bankers,  artisans,  and  laborers. 

On  the  same  principle,  why  should  not  our  system  of 
public  instruction  afford  the  best  means,  or  at  least  the 
rudiments,  of  mechanical  knowledge  to  meet  our  peculiar 
tendencies  ?  Practical  lessons  in  wood  and  iron,  in  the 
use  of  tools  and  machines,  would  be  beneficial  as  general 
information  in  this  productive  age,  while  they  would  cul- 
tivate the  judgment  and  expand  the  mind,  and  they  would 
also  find  their  uses  in  many  ways  in  practical  mechanics. 
As  preliminary  studies  they  could  be  called  into  aid, 
whether  the  students  became  merchants,  manufacturers, 
or  artisans ;  and  would  give  proper  direction  to  the  in- 
ventive instincts  of  our  people.  New  thoughts  would 
arise  from  knowledge  to  make  new  things  possible  and 
profitable.  Can  it  really  be  a  serious  question  whether 
this  is  the  only  country  in  which  the  public  school  is  in- 
competent to  direct  teaching  in  relation  to  the  genius  of 
the  general  mind  and  to  the  altered  conditions  of  the  age? 


EFFECT  OF  MACHINERY.  339 

Unless  education  reaches  this  subject,  unless  there  is 
the  most  practical  teaching  on  this  point,  invention  will 
proceed  upon  imperfect  knowledge  of  fundamental  prin- 
ciples, and  time  and  money  will  be  expended  on  imprac- 
ticable objects,  and  often  with  the  most  unfortunate  re- 
sults. Fortunes  have  been  literally  sunk  in  the  ground 
for  the  want  of  a  little  knowledge  in  geology  or  min- 
eralogy, and  it  is  to  the  same  lack  of  skill  that  most  of 
the  disastrous  and  fatal  accidents  connected  with  the  use 
of  machinery  are  to  be  attributed. 

Nearly  everything  is  now  made  by  machines,  and  this 
will  continue  more  and  still  more  to  be  the  case  to  reach 
the  minimum  of  human  labor.  The  impression  is  still 
cherished  by  many  that  the  effect  of  this  upon  the  ma- 
terial well-being  of  the  working-man  is  to  displace  his 
employment,  and,  by  cheapening  the  cost  of  production, 
to  diminish  his  wages.  It  is,  however,  the  incompetent 
men  that  are  discharged.  Machines  can  not  manufacture 
skill  or  art,  and  therefore,  although  the  mechanical  appli- 
ances are  so  numerous,  the  demand  for  skilled  workmen 
in  every  branch  of  art-industry  is  so  great  that  tens  of 
thousands  are  every  year  imported  from  Europe.  There 
are  cheerful  views  to  be  derived  from  the  history  of  the 
useful  arts.  Machinery  not  only  relieves  from  hard  toil, 
but  it  multiplies  the  number  of  occupations  in  a  ratio  far 
greater  than  the  work  it  displaces.  Every  discovery  in 
nature  and  every  invention  are  followed  by  new  arts  re- 
quiring more  refinement  of  mind  resulting  from  a  better 
form  of  industry.  Once  upon  a  time  the  soil  was  plowed 
by  main  strength,  and  wheat  was  trodden  out  by  the  feet 
of  oxen  or  thrashed  by  the  flail ;  the  flour  in  our  bread 
was  pulverized  by  a  hammer,  or  ground  in  rude,  inartifi- 


310    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

cial  mills  that  bear  little  or  no  relation  to  our  present 
methods.  The  grain  is  now  removed  in  an  instant  from 
the  place  of  its  growth  and  dispatched  to  everj  part  of  onr 
own  country  and  to  distant  marts  all  over  the  world.  This 
is  the  result  of  machinery,  and  the  industries  incident  to  the 
new  mode  of  tillage  are  on  a  scale  of  unexampled  magni- 
tude. Towns  and  cities  have  sprung  up  where  but  yester- 
day were  the  hunting-grounds  of  the  wandering  savage. 

Another  familiar  example  is  the  railroad.  Before  the 
locomotive  existed,  stage-coaches  and  carts  were  about  the 
only  means  of  conveyance  to  all  persons  except  those  who 
owned  their  carriages,  and  few  there  were  who  traveled 
then  ;  and  the  only  means  of  transportation  were  slow 
canal-boats  and  heavy  teams  of  horses  or  oxen.  Journeys 
were  few  and  freight  restricted.  A  grander  way  was  re- 
quired, and  man's  inventive  genius  discovered  it.  He 
constructed  bridges  over  angry  floods,  filled  up  wide- 
spread valleys,  tunneled  the  mountains,  graded  the  hills, 
laid  down  the  iron  track  upon  which  he  placed  the  iron 
horse  and  the  resistless  car ;  and  now  he  flies  and  turns 
and  whirls,  until  the  distant  yonder  becomes  the  here, 
and  the  here  is  everywhere.  He  also  hitched  the  power 
of  steam  to  ships  of  hammered  iron,  and  makes  his  way 
through  counter-currents,  resistant  waves,  and  adverse 
winds,  to  the  most  distant  homes  of  men.  There  are 
numerous  other  inventions  to  which  the  same  remarks 
would  apply,  and  the  arts  which  they  have  added  to  in- 
dustry or  the  existing  ones  which  they  have  indefinitely 
extended  are  so  varied  that  they  can  scarcely  be  classified. 
They  present  a  concentration  of  capital  and  labor,  of  ap- 
plied science  and  jjractical  knowledge,  which  marks  this 
era  of  industry. 


MACHINERY   AND   SCIENCE.  3-1,1 

Now,  all  these  inventions  are  based  upon  mathemati- 
cal, chemical,  and  mechanical  theories.  The  locomotive, 
the  steam-engine,  the  sewing-machine,  the  steam-plow, 
the  reaper  and  thrashing  implements,  the  railroad-car 
and  the  ocean-steamer,  the  power-loom  and  the  telescope, 
all  require  a  practical  and  technical  knowledge  of  scien- 
tific principles  in  their  construction.  This  is  indispen- 
sable in  order  that  thej  may  be  either  safe  or  useful.  A 
bridge  remains  firm  only  when  it  is  built  on  sound  cal- 
culations, and  a  machine  is  only  useful  when  it  is  con- 
structed on  correct  mechanical  rules.  How  important, 
then,  that  every  builder,  machinist,  and  engineer  should 
understand  the  rules  which  furnish  infallible  methods  for 
his  work,  and  particularly  is  this  knowledge  essential  to 
the  artisan  engaged  in  the  fabrication  of  machinery  !  A 
man  may  not  be  able  to  form  a  critical  opinion  upon  a 
matter  of  abstract  science,  but  surely  a  mechanic  should 
know  how  the  parts  of  a  machine  are  to  operate  and  how 
they  will  react  on  each  other  ;  how  its  various  movements 
are  to  be  affected  by  the  motive  power,  and  what  con- 
ditions are  to  be  observed  in  order  that  good  results  may 
be  obtained ;  and  also  in  order  to  prevent  the  loss  of  life 
and  property,  which  is  so  often  occasioned  by  blunders 
and  ignorance.  In  the  elementary  principles  of  mechanic 
art  will  be  found  a  study  of  eminent  utility  to  all  the 
pursuits  of  life,  but  which  will  be  especially  serviceable 
to  the  inventor,  the  manufacturer,  the  artisan,  and  the 
operative.  Mechanical  learning  is  therefore  making  its 
way  into  the  culture  of  the  age,  and  there  is  a  growing 
sentiment  in  favor  of  its  teaching  in  our  schools, 

"  Industrial  instruction,"  says  a  recent  writer,  "  is  de- 
manded by  every  principle  upon  which  our  general  edu- 


342    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

cational  system  is  based."  We  must  pay  a  fair  price  for 
it.  We  can  not  expect  frugality,  industry,  and  skill  when 
we  have  taken  no  means  to  secure  them.  When  England 
became  conscious  of  her  inferiority,  she  established  her 
art  and  science  schools,  and  has  made  such  giant  strides 
in  art-production  that  the  French  have  been  obliged  to 
redouble  their  efforts  in  order  to  retain  their  traditional 
superiority.  We  are  in  the  condition  England  occupied 
thirty  years  ago.  What  shall  America  do?  We  have 
found  that  general  literary  education  will  not  answer  this 
need.  Our  schools  are  admirable,  numerous,  and  expen- 
sive, and  yet  we  stand  at  the  bottom  of  all  civilized  na- 
tions in  everything  relating  to  industrial  education.  This 
is  a  question  that  concerns  us  all — the  buyer,  the  seller, 
the  worker,  the  poor,  and  the  rich.  It  is  a  public  ques- 
tion, for  our  arts  are  passing  into  the  hands  of  aliens,  and 
our  markets  into  the  control  of  foreigners. 

A  writer  in  "  The  Popular  Science  Monthly  "  maga- 
zine argues  that  no  central  organization  or  institution  can 
be  expected  to  do  the  work  which,  at  the  outset,  the  local 
industries  must  initiate  for  themselves,  and  develop  by 
their  own  resources.  Kot  so  thought  England,  when  she 
organized  her  great  industrial  museum  and  art-schools  to 
encourage  and  improve  her  manufactures,  before  "  local 
industries  "  had  laid  the  foundation  of  a  single  institution 
in  the  kingdom.  Kot  so  thought  Germany,  which  has 
evolved  some  of  the  most  important  additions  to  human 
knowledge  and  advancement  within  the  last  three  hun- 
dred years,  when  she  seized  this  problem  in  her  robust  in- 
telligence, and  solved  it  for  her  own  people  by  establish- 
ing an  industrial  school  by  law.  The  x^ew  England 
Puritan  planted  the  common  school  in  the  wilderness,  and 


WEALTH,   POPULATIOX,   INTELLIGENCE.  343 

the  Western  pioneer  builds  the  school-house  and  the  log- 
cabin  simultaneously.  It  is  the  need  of  these  things  that 
induces  public  action  before  the  young  can  grow  up  in 
ignorance  and  idleness  ;  and  it  would  indeed  be  a  mistake 
to  wait  until  they  had  been  locally  developed,  and  the 
statistics  of  their  success  had  excited,  popular  favor. 
There  is  an  opportunity  for  endowing  a  school  of  this 
character  in  every  town  and  city  ;  but  do  the  local  indus- 
tries turn  their  attention  to  the  necessities  or  tendencies 
of  our  times?  And  in  view  of  the  notorious  incompe- 
tency and  indisposition  of  these  bodies  to  elaborate  plans 
of  education  to  supply  the  need,  we  can  scarcely  look  to 
them  for  the  proper  remedy. 

Now,  since  the  great  mass  of  the  children  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  will  have  to  depend  upon  some  kind  of  em- 
ployment for  a  living,  is  there  anything  unreasonable  in 
affording  them  an  opportunity  to  acquire  that  kind  of 
knowledge  which  will  open  up  to  them  every  form  of 
skilled  workmanship,  which  will  emancipate  them  from 
the  narrowness  of  a  single  trade,  and  make  them  useful 
and  prosperous  citizens  ? 

In  a  commercial  and  artistic  point  of  view,  the  advan- 
tages of  mechanical  skill  and  its  combination  with  beauty 
appear  to  be  unlimited,  for  beauty  and  skill  are  sold  in 
the  market,  and  delivered  to  the  highest  bidder.  The 
people  who  produce  the  fleetest  shij^s,  the  finest  fabrics, 
the  most  effective  arms,  and  who  possess  an  economical 
and  richly  productive  agriculture,  and  a  varied  and  edu- 
cated mode  of  manufacture  and  general  industry,  will 
always  have  greater  wealth,  population,  and  intelligence 
than  it  is  possible  to  attain  without  them. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

Moral  influence  of  industry — West  Philadelphia  Penitentiary — Criminal  sta- 
tistics— Necessity  of  manual  training  to  correct  degrading  views  of 
labor — Also  as  preparatory  for  the  safety  of  society — Advantages  of 
industrial  education  to  workmen — It  improves  their  condition  and  cul- 
tivates the  moral  affections — Early  impressions — Mr.  Richards's  views 
— Exclusive  intellectual  training  creates  a  disdain  for  labor — The  con- 
nection between  idleness  and  vice — Public  schools  progressive — The 
friends  of  industrial  education  should  vindicate  the  public  schools  for 
their  reconstructing  tendency — Mr.  I'raser's  report  to  the  British  Gov- 
ernment— The  improvement  of  public  schools  since  that  time — The 
education  of  Indians — Hampton  Institute — It  is  an  industrial  school — 
Indians  taught  trades — The  best  way  to  educate  and  civilize  them — 
Manual  training  as  an  antidote  to  over-study — Dr.  Richardson's  views 
— Boston  committee  on  the  subject — The  Industrial  Home  School  at 
Washington — The  effect  of  skill  in  workmanship  upon  the  condition  of 
the  workers — Science  and  art  mutually  aid  each  other — The  laboring 
artist  reappears — The  establishment  of  Messrs.  Minton — "  L'Art  Re- 
vue " — Fine  art  in  the  United  States — Production  in  art-industry — Its 
humanizing  influence — Art  and  science — Mental  industry  and  material 
industry  in  close  alliance — The  worker  is  rising  higher  and  higher,  and 
is  gaining  in  intellectual  enjoyment — Industrial  education  the  work- 
ing-man's best  friend. 

It  may  also  increase  our  interest  in  the  economic  as- 
pect of  our  subject  if  we  reflect  that  intelligent  labor  is 
the  cheapest  police  of  society,  and  the  main-stay  in  the 
moralities  of  law  and  order ;  that  it  not  only  secures  the 
means  of  subsistence,  but  effectually  takes  away  the  in- 
ducements to  idleness  and  vice.    It  is  an  old  proverb  that 


IDLENESS  AND   CRIME.  345 

idleness  leads  to  poverty,  and  often  to  crime.  A  good 
journeyman  is  usually  a  good  citizen.  We  seldom,  if 
ever,  hear  of  a  skilled  machinist  in  the  penitentiary. 
Recorder  Vaux  gives  some  interesting  figures  concerning 
the  penitentiary  at  West  Philadelphia.  They  cover  two 
decades,  from  1860  to  1880.  In  the  first,  there  were 
1,605  prisoners  received.  Of  these,  1,115  could  both  read 
and  write,  but  1,217  had  never  been  apprenticed  to  a 
trade.  In  the  second  decade,  there  were  2,383  prisoners 
received.  Of  these,  1,677  could  read  and  write,  but  1,950 
had  never  been  apprenticed. 

Mr.  George  S.  Angell,  who  abounds  in  all  kinds  of 
good  works,  informs  me  that  out  of  1,368  prisoners  in  the 
Auburn  State  Prison,  [New  York,  a  short  time  since,  1,182 
had  a  greater  or  less  education  in  colleges,  academies, 
public  schools,  and  elsewhere.  As  showing  the  increase 
in  crime,  he  states  that  even  in  Massachusetts  it  doubled 
in  one  decade.  In  1865  there  were  about  10,000  persons 
confined  in  the  various  prisons  of  the  State,  and  during 
the  year  1875  there  were  20,000 ;  and  that  about  twice  as 
many  arrests  are  made  annually  in  the  city  of  New  York 
as  were  made  in  all  Massachusetts  during  the  year  1880 
— namely,  71,477.  He  also  shows  that  the  destruction  of 
property  by  fire  increased  in  ten  years  from  $35,000,000 
in  1868  to  about  $100,000,000  in  1878 ;  that  there  are 
large  organized  societies  of  criminals  throughout  the 
country ;  that  the  largest  proportion  of  the  criminal 
classes  are  young  men  not  over  the  age  of  twenty-five 
years ;  that  generally  they  can  read  and  write  ;  and  that 
in  no  country  are  life  and  property  more  insecure  than 
in  portions  of  the  United  States.  Among  the  principal 
remedies  he  suggests  are  industrial  schools  and  the  plant- 

16 


346    EDUCATIOX  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

ing  of  colonies  on  the  unoccupied  lands  of  the  Govern- 
ment, in  order  to  give  occupation  to  the  unemployed. 

From  this  it  would  appear  that  a  mere  deficiency  of 
ordinary  education  has  less  to  do  with  the  existence  and 
appalling  increase  of  crime  than  idleness  and  the  lack  of 
knowing  how  to  work.*  These  criminals  had  been  taught 
no  useful  art,  and  their  intellectual  training  had  little  or 
no  influence  in  counteracting  their  criminal  propensities. 
The  tramp  is  a  recent  phase  of  debasement.  The  crowd- 
ed tenement-houses  in  our  large  cities  swell  immensely 
the  statistics  of  brutality  and  dishonor,  and  I  fancy  that 
an  artisan  with  competent  knowledge  of  his  profession 
never  gravitates  to  these  dens  of  wretchedness  and 
squalor. 

In  referring  to  criminal  statistics,  a  recent  writer  has 
remarked  that 

The  cost  of  the  depredations  of  property,  the  detec- 
tion and  detention  of  criminals,  their  trials,  the  cost  of 
their  support  in  prisons  throughout  the  United  States, 
and  all  the  paraphernalia  of  criminal  jurisprudence,  might 
be  set  down,  at  the  least  calculation,  at  $500,000,000. 
Put  this  sum  of  money  in  industrial  schools  throughout 
the  country,  and  it  will  give  fifty  dollars  a  head  for  every 
child  in  the  land.  This  would  be  a  cheap  investment 
compared  to  the  expense  of  detecting,  adjudging,  and 
maintaining  criminals;  for  this  is  'a  stone  that  can  never 

*  If  I  am  correctly  informed,  there  are  only  four  persons  out  of  every 
hundred  in  Pennsylvania  that  cannot  read  or  write ;  it  follows  that  this  four 
per  cent  furnished  in  the  first  decade  nearly  one  third  of  the  criminals  in  the 
Philadelphia  penitentiary.  It  is  also  stated  that  less  than  twenty  per  cent 
of  the  total  population  of  Pennsylvania  are  apprenticed ;  it  follows  that  the 
criminals  were  furnished  in  about  equal  proportions  from  those  apprenticed 
and  those  unapprenticed.  In  the  absence  of  official  documents,  I  rely  for 
these  statistics  upon  one  in  a  position  to  know. 


MORAL  INFLUENCE   OF  INDUSTRY.  347 

be  rolled  to  the  top  of  the  hill,'  but  ever  rolls  back  again  ; 
while  industrial  education  would  give  us,  out  of  one 
generation  of  children,  a  cheerful,  orderly,  serviceable 
people,  self-respecting,  and  respectful  of  law. 

The  remedy  here  suggested  for  the  evils  complained 
of  I  unhesitatingly  assume  is  the  substantial  one — viz.,  to 
train  those  who  are  to  become  citizens  in  the  fundamental 
rudiments  of  the  arts  of  necessity,  to  teach  them  to  do 
something.  If  this  is  not  done,  the  things  that  have 
happened  will  be  repeated  indefinitely,  and  the  children 
will  be  delivered  up  to  the  thought  that  there  is  no  work 
in  which  they  can  engage,  and  no  way  possible  in  which 
they  can  acquire  a  knowledge  of  work  without  great  waste 
of  time  and  drudgery ;  and  they  will  thus  inevitably  ac- 
quire a  disposition  to  get  along  as  best  they  can  without 
it ;  and  to  yield  to  the  example  of  so  many  others  in  a 
sort  of  disdain  for  those  who  labor,  until  they  confound 
all  obligations  to  be  useful  into  a  skepticism  of  their  abil- 
ity to  earn  an  honest  living,  and  that,  as  the  public  have 
educated  them  into  this  belief,  it  ought  to  support  them. 
Who  can  doubt  the  salutary  influence  of  practical  teach- 
ing upon  the  great  evils  of  society — idleness,  and  the  con- 
sequences which  flow  from  it  ?  The  pupils  would  find  as 
much  interest  as  profit  in  manual  lessons — lessons  at  once 
scientific  and  useful — in  harmony  with  modern  demands, 
and  preparing  the  future  citizen,  the  future  artisan,  and 
the  men  of  action  who  are  to  carry  on  the  great  industries 
of  society,  in  which  the  laws  of  God  are  to  be  respected, 
justice  upheld,  intellect  cultivated,  taste  diffused,  and 
human  existence  embelhshed  by  industry,  morality,  and 
genius.  In  the  relations  of  life  there  is  a  moral  obliga- 
tion to  know  something  practical  in  order  to  live,  and  a 


348    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

knowledge  of  exterior  things  is  necessary  to  guide  us 
surely  in  regard  to  what  is  either  useful  or  good. 

In  former  parts  of  this  work  I  have  thrown  out  many 
remarks  to  show  that  the  industrial  schools  in  Europe 
had  provided  the  pupils  with  knowledge  which  enabled 
them  greatly  to  improve  their  condition,  and  that  it 
affected  favorably,  not  only  their  habits,  but  their  moral- 
ity, giving  them  a  taste  for  study,  and  ideas  of  order  and 
providence  which  contributed  powerfully  to  their  well- 
being  and  that  of  their  families ;  that  the  advantages  con- 
ferred upon  workmen  by  these  institutions  were  cor- 
roborated by  the  strongest  proofs,  some  of  which  were 
stated  and  need  not  be  repeated,  and,  among  other  bene- 
fits, that  they  were  better  fed,  better  clothed,  better 
housed,  and  better  behaved ;  and  their  condition  morally 
and  socially  improved  in  a  very  remarkable  degree ;  and 
that  vagrancy,  drunkenness,  and  crime  had  almost  entirely 
disappeared  where  industrial  education  had  been  con- 
ducted with  judgment  and  success. 

The  influence  of  art-industry  is  not  only  that  it  mul- 
tiplies objects  of  value,  not  only  that  it  creates  and  beau- 
tifies those  which  are  prized  by  the  afllluent  as  well  as 
those  which  are  necessary  for  the  poor,  but  it  strengthens 
all  those  important  influences  upon  which  our  moral  affec- 
tions depend  for  their  support  and  permanence.  Human 
virtue  results  greatly  from  our  surroundings.  Give  the 
people  lucrative  employment,  and  you  will  do  as  much 
for  their  morals  as  for  their  comfort.  Skilled  labor  com- 
mands the  highest  wages.  A  man  must  have  a  pleasant 
home,  clothing  suitable  for  his  family,  the  means  of  edu- 
cating his  children,  and  a  proper  reception  in  the  circle 
of  society  to  w^hich  he  belongs.    'Now,  the  same  industry, 


MORAL   INFLUENCE   OF  INDUSTRY.  349 

mechanical  skill,  and  ingenuity  combined  in  the  produc- 
tions of  useful  art  will  also  procure  these  different  but 
equally  indispensable  ends  to  human  happiness  and  moral 
excellence.  The  skilled  artisan,  by  the  exercise  of  his 
profession,  becomes  refined  in  his  tastes,  and  he  provides 
his  family  with  innumerable  comforts,  which — 

With  sweet  succession  taught  e'en  toil  to  please. 

If  industrial  training  alternated  with  mental  exercises, 
it  is  not  unreasonable  to  conclude  that  the  habit  ol  indus- 
try would  make  a  lasting  impression  upon  the  pupils,  and 
that  upon  leaving  school  many  would  enter  upon  some 
useful  pursuit  according  to  the  bent  and  aptitude  which 
had  been  developed  by  their  studies.  We  all  know  the 
strength  of  early  impressions,  and  that  they  often  exer- 
cise a  controlling  influence  over  a  lifetime.  Says  Mr. 
Zalmon  Richards,  in  his  premium  essay  upon  the  true 
order  of  studies :  "  Children  should  be  so  trained  in  their 
early  education  that  they  may  constantly  feel  that  all 
their  intellectual  attainments  are  valuable  only  as  they 
use  them  in  the  legitimate  employments  and  duties  of 
life.  Eight  here  we  find  some  of  the  gravest  defects  in 
our  systems  or  methods  of  training.  Thousands  of  our 
youth  come  from  their  schools  of  every  grade  with  aim- 
less purposes,  and  many  of  them  spend  aimless  lives,  or 
else,  perhaps,  they  think  their  intellectual  training  entitles 
them  to  a  living  anyway  without  hard  work.  The  indus- 
trial training  needed,  and  herein  advocated,  is  not  a  spe- 
cial training  for  a  trade,  nor  the  learning  of  a  trade,  but 
such  as  will  fit  all  children  for  any  trade  or  occupation, 
and  show  their  capacities  and  aptitudes  for  any  desirable 
employment,  so  that  they  will  not  be  liable  to  make  a 


350     EDUCATION  IX  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

mistake  in  choosing  an  employment  for  life,  as  thousands 
do." 

The  views  of  this  accomj)lished  and  practical  educator 
are  in  perfect  accord  with  universal  experience,  for  it  is 
a  fact  that  the  bias  which  the  young  receive  during  the 
period  of  school-life  will  generally  remain  to  influence 
their  conduct  afterward  :  their  ignorance  of  the  principles 
and  practice  of  industrial  art,  and  the  unfavorable  opin- 
ion which  their  exclusively  intellectual  training  has  given 
them  of  handiwork,  are  so  inveterate  that  but  compara- 
tively few  of  them  enter  upon  industrial  careers ;  while 
many  of  them  actually  imbibe  a  feeling  of  disdain  for 
useful  employment.  If  industry  were  taught  and  exem- 
plified in  practice  for  several  years  when  the  mind  is 
susceptible  to  every  influence,  and  when  the  habits  can 
be  molded  into  harmonious  relations  with  necessity,  it 
would  be  of  immense  importance  in  the  individual  life 
and  moral  character  of  every  being.  The  intellect  is  the 
reasoning  faculty  of  human  life ;  but  the  passions  are 
greater  in  intensity,  and  work  in  restless  agitation  to  con- 
trol the  whole  character  and  conduct  of  the  man.  Idle- 
ness is  the  well-spring  of  their  power,  but  industry  is  one 
of  the  limitations  to  this  influence,  and  a  powerful  check  to 
chastise  and  endow  it  with  moderation.  It  would  at  least 
curb  those  degrading  views  of  labor  which  drive  such 
multitudes  of  the  young  into  the  genteel  professions  from 
a  feeling  of  petty  pride. 

The  connection  between  idleness  and  vice  is  so  con- 
stant, that  statisticians  assume  it  to  be  phenomenal,  and 
their  statements,  supported  by  figures,  exhibit  a  frightful 
view  of  its  extent  and  progress.  The  evils  of  intemper- 
ance, of  crime,  and  of  poverty  generally,  originate  with 


THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  PROGRESSIVE.  35I 

those  who,  for  want  of  manual  instruction,  are  unwilling 
or  unable  to  earn  their  living  by  honest  industry.  And 
it  is  to  be  feared  that,  unless  a  general  system  of  indus- 
trial training  can  be  extended  to  all  classes,  good,  bad, 
and  degraded,  the  best  efforts  at  reformation  by  individ- 
uals will  be  altogether  insufficient  to  counteract  the  im- 
moralities engendered  by  this  evil. 

These  views  are  not  expressed  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  that  the  education  provided  by  the  public  schools 
leads  to  pauperism  and  crime,  as  some  lugubrious  critics 
have  recently  discovered.  The  latest  observations  of  this 
kind  have  been  directed  against  the  Northern  States,  es- 
pecially 'New  England,  where  the  native-born  population 
are  nearly  all  educated,  and  mostly  at  the  public  schools, 
and  among  whom  I  will  assume  to  say  there  is  more  gen- 
eral intelligence  and  less  crime  than  among  the  same 
number  of  people  elsewhere  on  the  face  of  the  globe. 
The  friends  of  industrial  education  should  have  no  sym- 
pathy with  the  sneers  leveled  so  often  at  the  public  school, 
for  it  is  the  most  progressive  of  all  our  institutions,  not- 
withstanding the  opposition  of  the  prejudiced  upholders 
of  antiquated  methods,  and  of  those  who  antagonize  inno- 
vations generall}'',  and  particularly  the  introduction  of 
manual  training  into  the  sphere  of  instruction. 

As  far  back  as  1865  the  Kev.  James  Fraser  was  dis- 
patched from  England  to  the  United  States  for  the  pur- 
pose of  reporting  to  the  British  Government  upon  the 
subject  of  our  common-school  system.  After  stating  that 
the  benefits  derived  from  the  schools  are  not  so  great  as 
is  believed  in  Europe,  he  adds  the  following  tribute  to 
the  general  result:  "Notwithstanding  these  hindrances, 
and  if  not  accomplishing  all  of  which  it  is  theoretically 


352    EDUCATION  IX  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

capable;  if  lacking  some  elements  which  we  deem  pri- 
mary, and  of  which  Americans  themselves  feel  and  regret 
the  loss,  the  common-school  system  is  still  contributing 
powerfully  to  the  development  of  a  nation  of  which  it 
is  no  flattery  or  exaggeration  to  say  that  it  is,  if  not  the 
most  highly  educated,  yet  certainly  the  most  generally 
educated  and  intelligent  people  on  the  earth." 

Since  that  time  the  schools  have  been  almost  recon- 
structed without  endangering  the  essential  principle  of 
free  education.  The  lacking  elements  which  "  Ameri- 
cans themselves  regret "  have  been  largely  supplied.  Nor- 
mal schools  have  been  instituted,  training  teachers  in  the 
most  perfect  modes  of  teaching ;  the  teachers  are  better 
qualified  and  paid,  and  their  social  position  has  become 
almost  equal  to  a  professional  one  ;  and  men  and  women 
of  superior  attainments  are  devoting  themselves  to  the 
new  profession.  The  schools  have  been  graded,  the 
studies  enlarged,  the  art  of  drawing  generally  taught, 
school-books  improved,  and  the  system  of  teaching  by 
rote  has  fallen  into  desuetude.  The  dissatisfaction  aris- 
ing from  religious  feelings,  and  the  unfriendly  strictures 
of  occasional  writers,  have  ceased  materially  to  affect  the 
current  of  public  opinion,  unless  it  be  to  make  the  sys- 
tem more  perfect,  and  to  open  its  unrivaled  opportuni- 
ties to  the  untaught  of  every  class  and  of  every  denomi- 
nation. 

It  is  this  reconstructing  tendency  that  is  the  best  hope 
of  the  system.  Efforts  have  already  commenced,  not  un- 
successfully, to  introduce  a  limited  amount  of  scientific 
teaching,  and  some  knowledge  of  manipulation  with  tools, 
and  even  machines  in  more  than  one  instance  are  called 
in  as  aids  to  education.     In  due  course  of  time  some- 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  OF  INDIANS.  353 

thing  more  will  be  attempted,  and  the  outlines  of  indus- 
trial science  will  assume  a  tangible  and  permanent  place 
alongside  of  the  fundamental  learning  in  reading,  writ- 
ing, and  arithmetic. 

I  have  referred  more  than  once  to  the  deterioration 
of  a  j)eople  who  lose  or  forget  their  habits  of  industry. 
Of  this  there  are  many  historical  examples.  Rome  re- 
mained mistress  of  the  world  until  her  arts  passed  into 
the  hands  of  strangers  and  slaves.  We  have  another  ex- 
ample nearer  home,  for  an  unknown  race  of  great  intelli- 
gence formerly  occupied  this  continent,  as  is  evident  from 
fragments  of  their  arts  found  throughout  the  vast  regions 
extending  from  the  Ohio  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Rings, 
chisels,  knives,  and  hammers — pottery,  vases,  and  huge 
earthworks — show  that  they  were  miners,  manufacturers, 
and  mound-builders.  Kothing  remains  of  them  but  the 
work  of  their  hands.  Their  very  name  is  forgotten. 
Let  us  hope,  however,  that  a  new  era  has  dawned  for 
their  barbarous  descendants,  since  an  opportunity  is  now 
offered  the  red-man  to  regain  the  arts  of  his  unknown 
progenitors.  The  educational  regeneration  of  the  Indians 
has  commenced  at  the  Hampton  Institute  in  Yirginia,  and 
in  the  Government  school  at  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania — the 
object  being  to  reclaim  them  from  savagery,  and  to  make 
them  students,  mechanics,  and  farmers.  At  the  former 
of  these  schools  Indian  boys  and  girls  are  sent  by  the 
Government,  which  pays  their  fare  to  and  from  the  insti- 
tute, and  $150  per  annum  for  each  pupil.  The  balance 
of  the  expenses  for  tuition,  board,  washing,  fuel,  lights, 
and  medical  attendance  for  sixtj^-five  Indians,  during  the 
year  1881,  was  $4,550.  The  institute,  which  is  a  private 
corporation,  looks  to  individuals  and  the  public  to  supply 


354    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

this  deficiency.  General  Armstrong,  the  founder  of  the 
institution,  remarks,  in  his  annual  report,  that  a  small 
portion  of  the  money  spent  during  the  last  five  years 
fighting  the  Indians  would  educate  them  all.  "What  is 
most  admirable  in  the  scheme  is  that,  in  addition  to  ele- 
mentary teaching,  industrial  education  is  accorded  an 
essential  place.  All  must  work,  and  the  Indian  youths 
are  taught  in  trades  of  shoemaking,  blacksraithing,  tin- 
smithing,  and  as  carpenters,  wheelwrights,  and  farmers. 
The  girls  are  quite  proficient  in  acquiring  the  household 
arts,  and  are  said  to  excel  in  the  performance  of  work  for 
personal  decoration,  which  is  but  a  development  of  the 
skill  in  savage  life.  As  a  proof  of  their  aptitude  for 
mechanics,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  all  of  the  tin  and 
sheet-iron  utensils  used  in  the  school-kitchens  are  made 
by  two  Sioux  from  the  Cheyenne  River  and  Lower  Brule 
agencies,  who  bave  become  expert  tinsmiths  in  the  three 
years  (1882)  of  their  being  in  the  school ;  and  they  intend 
to  form  a  partnership  and  conduct  that  business  on  their 
reservation.  The  correspondent  in  tlie  ]S^ew  York  Her- 
ald, from  whom  I  gather  these  facts,  has  a  paragraph  in 
which  he  states  as  follows : 

I  spent  the  forenoon  yesterday  in  the  industrial  de- 
partment of  the  institution.  I  found  Peters  working  at 
a  forge,  and  near  him  another  young  man  of  the  same 
tribe,  and  about  the  same  age,  bending  over  a  wheel- 
wright's bench.  The  latter's  name  is  Maquimetas,  and 
these  two,  when  they  return  to  their  people  next  year, 
propose  to  go  into  business  at  their  reservation  as  part- 
ners. Peters,  however,  has  evidently  a  very  aspiring 
temperament,  and  is  reluctant  to  leave  his  Alma  Mater. 
He  talks  of  returning  to  her  after  his  term  has  expired, 
in  order  to  go  through  another  three  years'  course.     Pe- 


Mi 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION  OF  INDIANS.  355 

ters  and  Maquimetas  have  constructed  without  any  help 
several  wagons  and  carts,  which  bear  comparison  with 
the  work  of  white  mechanics.  One  of  the  former,  to- 
gether with  some  wheelbarrows  made  by  Indian  students, 
has  been  sent  to  the  Mechanics'  Fair  at  Boston. 

And,  in  describing  the  general  work  and  object  of  the 
institution,  the  same  writer  declares  that  he  has  given 
much  time  to  the  examination,  and  was  fascinated  with 
the  effort.  The  object  of  the  training  is  practical  knowl- 
edge and  skill.  It  is  essentially  and  wisely  an  industrial 
school.  It  is  provided  with  excellent  workshops,  and 
three  farms  are  attached  to  it.  Students  earn  by  labor  a 
part  of  their  tuition  and  board  fees.  At  the  same  time 
they  gain  an  invaluable  knowledge  of  their  chosen  trades. 
For  the  Indians,  this  branch  of  their  instruction  is  of  the 
greatest  importance.  The  logic  of  industry  is  the  first 
thing  taught  them,  and  it  would  be  impossible  to  esti- 
mate the  prospects  of  these  races  when  brought  under 
such  influences.* 

The  individual  resources  of  intellect  and  the  fortitude 
which  are  developed  in  the  acquisitions  of  settled  society 

*  "  They  study  or  recite  from  half-past  eight  ia  the  morning  till  twelve. 
From  one  to  six  p.  m.  they  work.  In  the  evening  there  are  games,  conver- 
sation-classes, and  religious  meetings.  The  girls  are  taught  to  sew,  make 
and  mend  their  own  clothes  (most  of  them  now  can  make  their  own),  take 
cooking-lessons,  and  do  house-work,  washing  and  ironing,  as  well  as  our 
best  colored  girls.  They  are  particular  in  washing  dishes  and  setting 
tables,  but  are  rather  slow  about  it. 

"  The  boys  are  taught  farming,  for  which  most  generous  provision,  by 
way  of  a  three-hundred-and-fifty  acre  farm,  has  been  made  by  a  generous 
Boston  friend. 

"  Two  are  learning  the  printer's  trade,  four  the  wheelwright  and  black- 
smith's trade.  The  fifteen  in  the  Indian  shop  are  at  carpentery,  shoemak- 
ing  and  mending,  and  harness-repairing.     They  make  all  the  tables  and  tin- 


356    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

can  not  be  wholly  denied  to  these  descendants  of  the  races 
who  manufactured  beautiful  vases  and  constructed  mounds 
like  that  at  Cholula.  The  Cherokees,  Menomonees,  Wiu- 
nebagoes,  and  Six  JS^ations  have  made  a  favorable  impres- 
sion upon  the  people  of  the  United  States,  Leaving  out 
of  question  all  other  efforts  to  educate  and  civilize  the 
races  still  extant,  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  effort  at 
Hampton  Beach  transcends  any  other  in  the  four  centu- 
ries since  their  discovery.  It  is  a  message  of  peace  more 
powerful  than  all  the  soldiers  in  the  Western  garrisons. 
The  latter  will  be  long  necessary  for  protection,  for  the 
growth  will  necessarily  be  slow ;  but  a  beginning  in  the 
right  direction,  if  sustained  and  persevered  in  and  effect- 
ually carried  out,  can  but  result  in  the  gradual  triumph 
of  our  arts  and  civilization  over  the  whole  continent,  and 
among  all  the  races  and  tribes  that  inhabit  it,  and  the 
Indian  will  yet  eclipse  all  the  preindustrial  achievements 
of  the  great  and  enlightened  races  from  which  he  has 
descended. 

Among  the  evils  wliich  are  said  to  prevail  in  many  of 
the  public  schools,  none  is  more  frequently  censured  than 

ware,  and  do  the  small  Jobs  ia  painting  and  glazing.  Indians  have  a  knack 
in  leather-work.  I  can  show  you  a  one-horse  cart  and  a  plain  two-story 
house  built  by  Indian  boys. 

"  Like  the  girls,  they  are  neat  and  tidy,  but  slow.  A  boy  will  make  a 
perfect  mortise,  but  is  too  long  about  it. 

"  At  first  they  soon  tire,  for  their  muscles  are  not  trained  to  steady 
day's  work.  After  two  years  they  are  equal  to  ten  hours'  labor.  But  they 
will  not  soon  get  the  Anglo-Saxon's  gift  of  endurance  or  continuousness. 
They  measure  larger  at  the  hips,  and  less  relatively  at  the  chest,  than 
whites.  All  the  tinted  races  seem  weak  at  the  lungs,  being  most  sensitive 
to  change  of  surroundings.  Consumption  is  the  great  enemy." — (General 
Armstrong's  address  in  Boston,  October,  1S80.) 


i 


THE   CRAMMIXG  PROCESS.  357 

the  cramming  process.  Newspapers  and  public  speakers 
have  exhausted  the  vocabularies  of  invective  in  showing 
the  nature  and  extent  of  the  evil,  and  examples  are  pub- 
lished from  time  to  time  of  the  sufferings  and  diseases 
engendered  bj  over-study.  Not  long  since  T.  W.  Hig- 
ginson  startled  the  community  by  an  article  in  the  At- 
lantic Monthly  upon  the  "  Murder  of  the  Iimocents," 
and  public  attention  was  soon  afterward  called  to  the 
death  of  two  pupils,  one  from  brain-fever  and  the  other 
by  suicide,  both  resulting  from  mental  excitement  and  too 
much  application  to  study.  Indeed,  it  is  a  familiar  source 
of  complaint.  The  evil  has  undoubtedly  been  greatly  ex- 
aggerated, and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  it  is  often 
seized  upon  where  the  fact  does  not  exist,  or  as  an  excuse 
for  deficiency  and  over-indulgence.  But,  after  making 
all  allowances,  its  consequences  upon  the  understanding 
and  strength  of  the  pupils  can  not  safely  be  ignored. 
The  exercise  of  the  intellectual  powers  is  as  healthy  an 
exercise  as  is  that  of  the  body,  but  it  is  undeniable  that 
over-study  in  children  whose  brains  and  physical  system 
are  developing  can  only  be  pursued  to  the  serious  detri- 
ment of  their  health.  In  his  recent  work  on  the  "  Dis- 
eases of  Modern  Life,"  Dr.  B.  W.  Richardson  says  that 
the  endeavor  to  fill  too  hastily  the  minds  of  children  with 
artificial  information  leads  to  one  of  two  results.  Not 
infrequently  in  the  very  young  it  gives  rise  to  direct  dis- 
ease of  the  brain  itself,  to  deposit  of  tubercle  if  there  be 
a  predisposition  to  that  disease,  to  convulsive  attacks,  or 
even  to  epilepsy.  In  less  extreme  cases  it  causes  simple 
weakness  and  exhaustion  of  the  mental  organs,  with  irreg- 
ularity of  power.  The  child  may  grow  up  with  a  mem- 
ory taxed  with  technicals  impressed  so  forcibly  that  it  is 


358    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

hard  to  make  way  for  other  knowledge.  Added  to  these 
mischiefs  there  may  be,  and  often  is,  the  further  evil  that 
the  brain,  owing  to  the  labor  put  upon  it,  becomes  too 
fully  and  easily  developed,  too  firm^  and  too  soon  mature. 
It  remains  throughout  life  a  large  child's  brain,  very  won- 
derful for  power  in  a  child,  but  very  weak  in  a  man  or 
woman  ;  and  the  doctor  concludes  as  follows  : 

"  Overwork  in  the  child  and  in  the  student  defeats 
its  own  object.  It  does  not  develop  the  powerful  brain 
60  necessary  for  the  man,  for  life  is  ever  a  new  and  great 
lesson,  and  some  young  brain  must  be  left  free  for  the 
reception  of  lesson  on  lesson.  But  the  danger  of  over- 
work is,  unfortunately,  not  confined  to  the  brain  ;  it  ex- 
tends to  the  body  as  a  whole.  When  the  brain  is  over- 
worked in  the  growing  child,  however  well  the  child  may 
be  fed  and  clothed  and  cared  for,  there  will  be  over  waste 
of  substance  in  proportion  to  the  overwork.  There  will 
be  stunted  growth  and  a  bad  physical  body." 

Now,  the  practical  advantage  of  industrial  education 
as  an  antidote  to  this  evil  is  beginning  to  attract  much 
attention,  and  its  remedial  agencies  are  particularly  in- 
voked to  prevent  or  mitigate  the  excessive  use  of  one 
organ  at  the  expense  of  the  entire  body.  A  Boston  school 
committee,  appointed  for  the  purpose  of  investigating  the 
subject,  expressed  their  conviction  that  the  introduction 
of  manual  teaching  into  the  school  system  will  serve  as 
an  excellent  means  of  preventing  over-study.  It  asso- 
ciates the  mental  with  the  material,  the  exercise  of  the 
body  with  the  mind,  and  thus  carries  on  the  symmetrical 
education  of  the  whole  humanity. 

One  of  the  best  results  will  be  the  interest  which  chil- 
dren take  in  the  nature  of  objects  and  in  making  things ; 


THE  ANTIDOTE  FOR  OVER-STUDY.        359 

it  will  also  serve  to  relieve  the  mind  from,  perhaps,  dry 
studies  and  long  tasks  and  severe  discipline,  which  only 
disgust  and  weary  them.  There  is  also  an  especial  ad- 
vantage in  training  the  hand  and  the  eye  in  some  useful 
vocation  that  will  not  only  improve  the  health,  but  enable 
the  pupils  to  become  self-supj)orting,  independent,  and 
thoroughly  competent  for  the  useful  duties  of  life.  The 
partial  course  of  industrial  training  introduced  into  some 
of  the  schools  in  Philadelphia  as  well  as  Boston  have 
given  the  most  gratifying  results.  And  the  superintend- 
ent of  the  Industrial  Home  School  at  Washington  has 
stated  as  a  fact  that  children  rarely  asked  to  be  excused 
from  school ;  and,  although  four  half-days  in  the  week 
were  devoted  to  instructions  in  various  industries,  their 
standard  in  public-school  studies  was  fully  up  to  the  aver- 
age, proving  that  a  well-arranged  system  of  interchange- 
able mental  and  manual  training  was  not  only  practical, 
but  decidedly  advantageous  to  the  pupil.  The  examina- 
tion in  the  various  industries  taught — practical  questions 
on  shoemaking,  in  gardening,  sewing,  cooking,  house- 
keeping, carpentering,  etc. — presented  a  novel  and  inter- 
esting innovation  upon  the  conventional  examinations  in 
other  institutions. 

The  effect  of  educated  workmanship  upon  the  condi- 
tion of  the  worker  is  a  consideration  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance. We  are  familiar  with  the  contests  of  labor. 
On  one  side  of  this  interminable  controversy  it  stands 
grim  and  hostile,  while  capital  leads  the  other  and  gen- 
erally conquers.  Bj  labor  in  the  sense  of  this  conflict  I 
mean  those  who  go  through  life  without  any  of  the  supe- 
riority or  disinterestedness  conferred  by  knowledge  or  by 
the  habit  of  thought  which  knowledge  inspires.     They 


360    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

are  satisfied  to  do  as  they  and  theirs  have  always  done 
before  them,  and  so  they  work  and  drudge  on  with  a 
vague  presentiment  that  all  improvement  in  the  manu- 
factures or  trades  in  which  they  toil  is  hostile  to  their 
interests.  They  belong  to  a  class  that  would  smash  ma- 
chinery or  break  into  strikes  when  they  can  result  in  no 
benefit  to  themselves,  and  which  sometimes  are  followed 
by  proscriptions  of  those  who  are  guilty  of  no  crime  but 
that  of  a  willingness  to  work.  Educated  labor  occujDies 
higher  ground  and  understands  better  the  economic  rela- 
tions of  industry.  lie  who  professes  honest,  high-minded 
work,  however  humble  his  calling,  is  inevitably  imbued 
with  the  spirit  he  breathes  into  it,  and  his  mind  harmo- 
nizes with  the  execution  of  its  design.  He  is  impressed 
with  a  spirit  of  fairness  and  justice  beyond  the  compre- 
hension and  rough  ethics  of  those  less  intelligent  in  his 
art,  and  he  therefore  carries  the  discipline  of  study  into 
the  exercise  of  his  workmanship  under  the  bright  ambi- 
tion of  improving  his  condition  and  beholding  his  chil- 
dren educated  to  his  own  standard.  A  man  of  less  infor- 
mation may  vaguely  wish  for  much  beyond  his  reach, 
and  ask  for  something  better  in  the  way  of  the  substan- 
tial goods  of  life,  for  his  labor  is  wdiolly  task-work.  He 
probably  was  industrious,  honest,  and  fair-minded  origi- 
nally, but  the  disadvantages  of  his  situation  have  insen- 
sibly embittered  and  soured  his  nature ;  and  his  ordinary 
conversation  becomes  the  vehicle  of  heart-burnings  and 
jaundiced  pictures  of  realities  at  all  times  sufficiently  som- 
ber. In  tliis  state  of  fostered  irrita1)ility  he  toils  on  in  a 
helpless  sort  of  way,  blaming  his  cnij)loyer,  denouncing 
capital,  and  lending  himself  to  plots  and  cabals  which  end 
in  breaking  the  hearts  of  his  family,  and  leaving  his  ani- 


APPLICATION  OF  ART  TO   INDUSTRY.  361 

mal  spirits  somewhere  on  the  hard  track  of  disappoint- 
ment and  poverty. 

But  a  workman,  well  informed  in  the  theory  of  his 
art,  and  able  and  willing  to  practice  it,  has  higher  mo- 
tives and  aspirations ;  for  he  is  not  only  sure  of  the  high- 
est wages,  but  he  knows  that  skill  like  his  paves  the  road 
that  leads  to  success,  and  that  the  accomplished  artisan  is 
sure  that  his  various  perfections  will  be  appreciated  and 
rewarded.  Indeed,  I  do  not  see  why,  w^hen  he  is  artistic 
in  his  skill,  he  should  not  rank  with  those  having  the 
impulse  of  a  gentleman,  or  even  with  the  professional 
classes,  so  called. 

The  application  of  art  to  industry  until  of  late  years 
existed  only  as  a  tradition.  When  manufacturing  pro- 
cesses were  developed  in  modern  Euroj^e,  the  term  utility 
was  made  vaguely  significant  of  the  arts  and  devices  of 
mere  physical  comfort,  and  the  use  of  art,  especially 
among  Anglo-Saxons,  was  regarded  as  unimportant,  if  not 
frivolous.  We  are  beginning  to  appreciate  its  appliance, 
and  few  things  can  now  be  named  in  which  its  graceful 
touch  can  be  dispensed  with.  When  we  contemplate  its 
effect  in  conducting  all  branches  of  industry,  as  it  has 
been  exemplified  in  Europe  and  to  a  less  degree  in  the 
United  States,  ujjon  the  condition  of  the  workers  them-" 
selves,  it  is  impossible  to  conjecture  their  ultimate  prog- 
ress in  social  and  material  prosperity.  The  painters, 
sculptors,  and  architects  who  made  Italy,  Flanders,  and 
Germany  famous  for  the  higher  forms  of  art  at  the 
period  of  the  Renaissance,  executed  with  their  own  hands 
designs  for  caqjets,  furniture,  dooi*s,  hinges,  and  also  in 
metal ;  and  their  pieces  in  bronze,  in  gold,  silver,  and  in 
chasing  are  among  the  choicest  specimens  in  our  art-col- 


362    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

lections.  Guido,  Micliael  Angelo,  and  Raphael  were  in 
the  truest  sense  laboring  artists,  and  did  not  scorn  occa- 
sionally to  furnish  beautiful  designs  for  the  decoration  of 
articles  devoted  to  the  useful  purposes  of  life.  We  wit- 
ness something  like  this  revived.  In  the  finest  work  of 
ornamentation  the  designing  is  performed  by  men  of 
culture  and  long  training.  The  painters  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Messrs.  Minton  receive  large  salaries  for  the 
creations  of  their  pencils  upon  precious  pieces  of  porce- 
lain, with  invaluable  delineations  outlined  upon  them, 
which  pass  through  the  world  for  their  beauty. 

In  a  late  number  (1882)  of  the  "  L'Art  Revue,"  two 
engravings  are  presented  of  pieces  of  furniture  that  were 
made  in  the  times  of  Louis  XIV  and  Louis  XYI.  They 
are  etched  by  Leon  Goucherad,  and  an  editorial  remarks 
that  it  is  only  in  France  that  so  distinguished  an  artist 
would  take  for  his  subject  a  piece  of  furniture,  and  not 
consider  it  derogatory  to  his  calling.  But  art  is  art  in 
France,  and  the  artist  never  considers  any  subject  un- 
worthy of  his  jDencil.  The  true  artist  comprehends  art 
in  all  its  various  stages,  and  he  takes  the  same  interest  in 
commonplace  subjects  when  they  can  translate  his  ideas 
into  form. 

In  the  United  States  fine  art  has  not  associated  with 
industry.  They  have  seldom  moved  together.  The  art- 
ist has  intrenched  himself  in  a  circle  that  touches  no  other 
circumference.  But  the  growing  desire  for  ornamenta- 
tion, and  to  bestow  the  beautiful  forms  of  art  upon  arti- 
cles for  common  use,  can  only  be  interpreted  as  evidence 
of  a  great  change  in  public  taste,  which  will  ultimately 
dispel  this  constant  divergence,  and  bring  together  these 
two  elements  so  essential  to  our  progress  and  refinement. 


APPLICATION  OF  APvT  TO   INDUSTRY.  363 

And,  indeed,  if  the  design  of  liiglier  art  is  to  embellish 
human  existence,  why  can  it  disdain  to  recognize  the 
stupendous  interests  which  spring  from  the  industries  of 
this  affluent  nation?  The  desire  which  stimulates  the 
growing  taste  for  what  is  beautiful  in  common  things  is 
educating  the  public  mind  to  appreciate,  by  a  natural  ad- 
justment, the  linest  work  of  the  artist,  and  to  imbue  all 
with  a  critical  knowledge  of  his  creations,  and  thus  to 
increase  his  patrons  upon  an  almost  incredible  scale  of 
magnitude.  There  is  no  extravagance  of  fancy  in  the 
belief  that  art-industry  is  destined  to  produce  greater  re- 
sults upon  the  fine  arts  than  the  fine  arts  will  ever  pro- 
duce upon  it,  and  that  it  has  already  elaborated  a  taste 
for  them  which  has  not  been  reciprocated,  and  which  can 
not  hereafter  be  eradicated.  It  has  produced  perfect  fac- 
similes of  the  finest  engravings,  and  multiplied  the  works 
of  the  great  masters,  and  reproduced  the  faces  and  figures 
of  antique  art  in  no  respect  inferior  to  the  original,  at  a 
mere  nominal  cost ;  and  busts  and  statues,  palaces  and 
cathedrals,  spring  from  the  picture-surface  according  to 
the  optical  powers  applied  to  them ;  and  the  illustrated 
newspapers  throw  off  any  number  of  impressions  pictori- 
ally  delineating  the  main  transactions  of  the  great  world. 

Art-industry,  regarded  merely  in  its  economics,  sim- 
plicity, and  accuracy,  must  be  considered  among  the  most 
humanizing  accomplishments  of  mankind.  Its  relation  to 
the  fine  arts  is  only  distinguishable  as  going  before  them 
in  the  necessities  of  life  and  in  the  facilities  which  it  pre- 
sents to  the  masses  of  the  j^eople  in  its  various  employ- 
ments and  discoveries. 

Cultivation  refines  the  sensibilities,  and  has  the  same 
general  effect  upon  all  minds.      There  is  a  unity,  not 


364    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

only  in  all  the  arts,  but  the  same  thing  is  observable  in 
art  and  science.  Each  courts  the  other,  and  their  union 
is  often  thought  to  be  indispensable.  We  know  that  the 
same  study  often  involves  a  science  and  an  art.  What 
could  have  been  known  of  the  laws  of  chemistry,  if  the 
instruments  furnished  by  art  had  not  separated  its  ele- 
ments and  brought  them  home  to  our  cognizance?  The 
telescope,  the  mariner's  quadrant,  and  the  air-pump  come 
from  the  workshop,  as  do  all  the  instruments  of  precision 
which  have  contributed  so  immensely  to  the  original  stock 
of  human  knowledge. 

In  these  instances,  and  in  many  others,  Science  and 
Art  go  hand  in  hand  like  sisters.  The  skilled  and  intel- 
ligent working-classes  will  find  that  they  occupy  a  much 
greater  share  of  human  enjoyment  and  honor,  and  that 
the  line  dividing  those  engaged  in  the  useful  pursuits  of 
life  from  those  engaged  in  intellectual  industry  will  ap- 
pear less  and  less  in  a  disadvantageous  light.  The  true, 
the  beautiful,  and  the  good  are  sources  of  unfailing  pleas- 
ure, and  the  culture  of  the  heart  brings  a  noble  recom- 
pense which  is  to  be  prized  more  than  wealth  without 
the  tastes  which  should  accompany  it.  The  man  of  men- 
tal industry  and  the  man  of  skilled  industry  stand  in  a 
fortunate  position,  between  the  sordid  rich  and  the  sordid 
poor,  for  they  possess  a  consciousness  of  knowledge  and 
refinement  unknown  to  the  possessors  of  tasteless  wealth, 
or  the  helplessness  of  ignorant  poverty.  The  artist,  the 
artisan,  the  scholar,  and  the  philosopher  are  advancing 
slowly  but  steadily  into  the  world's  sympathies  and  its 
busy  intercourse.  They  who  think  and  work  are  the 
classes  that  produce  the  literature  of  the  times,  and  whose 
acts  will  become  the  history  of  the  future.     Study  and 


THE   WORKING-MAN'S   BEST   HOPE.  365 

the  exercise  of  its  arts  no  longer  drift  into  the  eddies  of 
life  while  the  stream  of  wealth  and  honor  pass  by.  The 
artiticer  of  material  work  and  the  artificer  of  thought 
are  engaged  in  the  same  object,  only  in  different  degrees 
of  effort,  but  of  the  same  general  nature.  The  difference 
is  between  the  work  of  the  hand  and  the  work  of  the 
brain;  and,  in  comparing  the  two,  the  former  is  rising 
higher  and  higher  in  the  scale  of  intellectual  enjoyment, 
and  is  assuming  consideration  socially  in  proportion  to 
the  elements  of  taste  and  beauty  which  it  applies  to  the 
material  conditions  of  life.  Thousands  of  women  trained 
in  our  art-schools  are  rescued  from  dependence  and  want, 
and  have  learned  almost  unconsciously  that  life  is  worth 
living;  and  thousands  of  men  skilled  in  their  calling 
have  been  raised  to  a  level  of  the  best  educated  and  the 
most  fully  informed  of  those  in  commercial  or  profes- 
sional life. 

Indeed,  industrial  education  is  the  working-man's  best 
friend  and  hope  in  the  world  ;  and  the  advantages  which 
it  holds  out  for  his  improvement  are  practically  endless. 
By  means  of  it  he  may  expect  not  only  to  realize  greater 
perfection  in  his  work,  but  also  an  advance  in  his  social 
relations ;  for  when  art  and  skill  in  any  direction  what- 
ever are  developed,  they  are  and  must  be  accompanied  by 
an  education  of  general  taste,  and  an  improvement  in 
mind  and  manners,  that  will  bring  him  abreast  with  the 
best  associates  in  his  immediate  society. 


APPENDIX. 

Extract  from  the  Annual  Catalogue,  1881-82,  of  the  School 
for  Ma?iual  Instruction  of  Washington  University,  St. 
Louis,  referred  to  iti  Chapter  V. 


THE   THEORY    OF   SHOP-WORK. 

The  application  of  the  educational  idea  to  meclianic  arts 
is  strictly  analogous  to  its  application  to  chemistry  and  phys- 
ics. In  each,  the  use  of  apparatus  and  the  treatment  of 
material  is  taught  by  systematic  experiments  in  suitable 
laboratories.  In  each,  everything  is  arranged  for  the  pur- 
pose of  giving  instruction  in  the  principles  involved,  and 
for  acquiring  skill  in  manipulation,  and  not  for  the  sake  of 
the  production  of  salable  compounds  of  either  drugs  or  ap- 
paratus. 

Chemical  laboratories  might  be  manufactories,  and  mix- 
tures might  be  made  for  sale,  but  the  efficiency  of  such  a 
laboratory  for  the  purpose  of  education  would  be  very  small. 
So  a  manufacturing  establishment  can  be  made  a  place  for 
instruction  in  the  use  of  tools,  but  its  cost  would  be  great 
in  proportion  to  its  capacity,  and  the  variety  of  work  would 
be  limited  by  its  business. 

SPECIAL   trades    ARE   NOT   TAUGHT. 

The  scope  of  a  single  trade  is  too  narrow  for  educational 
purposes.    Manual  education  should  be  as  broad  and  liberal 


g68    EDUCATIOX  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

as  intellectual.  A  shop  which  manufactures  for  the  market 
and  expects  a  revenue  from  the  sale  of  its  products,  is  neces- 
sarily confined  to  salable  work,  and  a  systematic  and  pro- 
gressive series  of  lessons  is  impossible,  except  at  great  cost. 
If  the  object  of  the  shop  is  education,  a  student  should  be 
allowed  to  discontinue  any  task  or  process  the  moment  he 
has  learned  to  do  it  well.  If  the  shop  were  intended  to 
make  money,  the  students  would  be  kept  at  work  on  what 
they  could  do  best,  at  the  expense  of  breadth  and  versa- 
tility. 

It  is  claimed  that  students  take  more  interest  in  work- 
ing upon  something  which,  when  finished,  has  intrinsic 
value,  than  they  do  in  abstract  exercises.  This  is  quite 
possible,  and  proper  use  should  be  made  of  this  fact ;  but 
if  all  education  were  limited  to  such  practical  examples, 
our  schools  would  be  useless.  The  idea  of  a  school  is  that 
pupils  are  to  be  graded  and  taught  in  classes  ;  the  result 
aimed  at  being,  not  at  all  the  objective  product  or  finished 
work,  but  the  intellectual  and  physical  growth  which  comes 
from  the  exercise.  Of  what  use  is  the  elaborate  solution  in 
algebra,  the  minute  drawing,  or  the  faithful  translation, 
after  it  is  well  done  ?  Do  we  not  erase  the  one,  and  burn 
the  other,  with  the  clear  conviction  that  the  only  thing  of 
value  was  the  discipline,  and  that  that  is  indestructible  ? 

So  in  manual  education,  the  desired  end  is  the  acquire- 
ment of  skill  in  the  use  of  tools  and  materials,  and  not  the 
production  of  specific  articles  ;  thence  we  abstract  all  the 
meclianical  processes  and  manual  arts  and  typical  tools  of 
the  trades  and  occupations  of  men,  arrange  a  systematic 
course  of  instruction  in  the  same,  and  tlien  incorporate  it 
into  our  system  of  education. 

Thus,  without  teaching  any  one  trade,  we  teach  the 
essential  mechanical  principles  of  all.  In  accordance  with 
the  foregoing  principles,  the  shop-training  is  gained   by 


APPENDIX.  369 

regular  and  carefully  graded  lessons  designed  to  cover  as 
much  ground  as  possible,  and  to  teach  thoroughly  the  uses 
of  ordinary  tools.  This  does  not  imply  the  attainment  of 
sufficient  skill  to  produce  either  the  fine  work  or  the  rapid- 
ity of  a  skilled  mechanic  ;  this  is  left  to  after-years.  But 
the  knowledge  of  how  a  tool  or  machine  should  be  used  is 
easily  and  thoroughly  taught.  The  mechanical  products 
or  results  of  such  lessons  have  little  or  no  value  when  com- 
pleted, and  hence  the  shops  do  not  attempt  to  manufacture 
for  the  market. 

As  has  been  said,  work  of  immediate  utility  is  of  greater 
interest  to  students  than  abstract  lessons.  Such  work  has 
an  undoubted  value,  and  is  in  many  ways  desirable,  pro- 
vided it  does  not  hinder  or  interfere  with  regular  instruc- 
tion. Opportunities  for  such  constructive  work  are  con- 
stantly occurring.  The  wants  of  a  large  institution  are 
many,  and  when  they  can  be  supplied  by  student  skill  it  is 
a  benefit  to  all  concerned.  In  this  way,  outside  the  stated 
hours,  pupils  have  the  means  of  applying  their  knowledge 
and  of  gaining  additional  practice.  The  yearly  aggregate 
of  such  productions  is  quite  large,  and  it  affords  undeniable 
evidence  of  the  efficiency  of  systematic  instruction. 

DETAILS   OF    SnOP-INSTRUCTION. 

The  shop-instruction  is  given  similarly  to  laboratory  lec- 
tures. The  instructor  at  the  bench,  machine,  forge,  or  anvil 
executes  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  class  the  day's  lesson, 
giving  all  needed  instructions,  and  at  times  using  the  black- 
board. 

When  necessary,  the  pupils  make  notes  and  sketches, 

and  questions  are  asked  and  answered,  that  all  obscurities 

may  be  removed.    The  class  then  proceeds  to  the  execution 

of  the  task,  leaving  the  instructor  to  give  additional  help  to 

such  as  need  it. 
IV 


370    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

At  a  specified  time  that  lesson  ceases,  the  work  is  brought 
in,  commented  on  and  marked.  It  is  not  necessary  that  all 
the  work  assigned  should  be  finished  ;  the  essential  thing 
is,  that  it  should  be  well  begun  and  carried  on  with  reason- 
able speed  and  accuracy. 

It  is  almost  useless  to  say  that  the  personal  character- 
istics of  pupils  are  even  more  marked  in  this  work  than  in 
any  ordinary  recitation,  from  the  fact  that  no  text-books 
are  used,  nor  is  there  previous  study.  The  length  of  time 
required  by  different  pupils  in  a  large  class  for  the  doing  of 
a  specified  piece  of  work  varies  considerably.  Hence  addi- 
tional lessons  or  constructive  work  is  arranged  for  the  bright- 
er and  quicker  members. 

Work  in  the  blacksmith-shop  is  in  one  essential  feature 
different  from  any  other  kind.  Wood  or  cold  iron  will  wait 
any  desired  length  of  time  while  the  pupil  considers  how 
he  shall  work ;  but  here  comes  in  temperature,  subject  to 
continual  change. 

The  injunction  is  imperative  to  "  strike  while  the  iron 
is  hot,"  and  hence  quick  work  is  demanded — a  hard  thing 
for  new  hands. 

To  obviate  this  difficulty  bars  of  lead  are  used,  with 
which  the  lesson  is  first  executed,  while  all  the  particulars 
of  holding  and  striking  are  studied.  The  lead  acts  under 
the  hammer  very  nearly  like  hot  iron,  and  will  permit  of 
every  operation  of  the  blacksmith-shop  except  welding. 
Much  is  anticipated  from  its  use  as  a  preparation  for  the 
working  of  iron,  as  each  lesson  is  first  executed  in  lead. 

One  of  the  most  difficult  lessons  in  the  art  of  the  smith 
is  that  of  managing  the  fire.  The  various  kinds  of  heat 
are  explained  and  illustrated,  and  habits  of  economy  of  both 
iron  and  fuel  are  inculcated. 


APPENDIX.  371 


HOW  THE   USE   OF  TOOLS   IS  TAUGHT. 

Frequent  requests  have  been  made  for  detailed  descrip- 
tions or  drawings  of  the  models  actually  used  in  the  several 
shops.  Such  requests  have  generally  been  refused,  for  sev- 
eral good  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  the  main  object  of 
one  or  more  lessons  is  to  gain  control  and  mastery  of  the 
tool  in  hand,  and  not  the  production  of  a  particular  model. 
The  use  of  the  tool  may  be  well  taught  by  a  large  variety 
of  exercises,  just  as  a  knowledge  of  bank  discount  may  be 
gained  from  the  use  of  several  different  examples.  No 
special  merit  can  be  claimed  for  a  particular  example  ;  nei- 
ther can  a  particular  model  or  series  of  models  have  any 
great  value.  No  good  teacher  is  likely  to  use  precisely  the 
same  set  twice. 

Again,  the  metliod  of  doing  a  piece  of  work,  and  not  the 
finished  piece,  may  be  the  object  of  a  lesson.  To  illustrate : 
Directions  are  given  to  a  class  in  carpentry  to  saw  a  piece 
of  wood,  holding  it  upon  the  bench-dog.  A  pupil  is  found 
attempting  to  do  the  work  holding  it  on  a  trestle.  On 
being  corrected,  he  insists  that  he  can't  do  it  so  well  in 
that  way.  The  teacher  replies,  or  should  reply,  "Then 
that  is  the  way  you  should  do  it,  until  you  can  do  it  well." 
Now,  the  exercises  by  which  certain  methods  of  using  tools 
are  to  be  taught,  often  depend  upon  varying  circumstances, 
such  as  the  quality  of  the  material,  the  age  of  pupils,  and 
the  pupils'  knowledge  of  working  drawings.  Instead  of 
giving  particular  descriptions  of  exercises,  we  prefer  to 
state  the  general  methods  by  which  the  use  of  the  various 
tools  is  taught. 

The  tools  are  not  given  out  all  at  once  ;  they  are  issued 
as  they  are  needed,  and  to  all  the  members  of  the  class 
alike. 


372    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

In  carpenter-work  the  tools  used  are  the  cross-cut,  ten- 
on, and  rip  saws,  steel  square,  try  square,  bevel  and  gauge, 
hammer,  mallet,  knife,  rule  and  dividers,  oil-stones,  and 
slips  ;  and  of  edge-tools,  the  jack-  and  smoothing-planes, 
the  chisels  and  gouges.  Braces  and  bits,  jointer-planes, 
compass-saws,  hatchets,  and  other  tools,  are  kept  in  the 
shop  tool-closet,  to  be  used  as  needed. 

The  saw  and  the  plane,  with  the  square  and  gauge,  are 
the  foundation  tools,  and  to  drill  the  pupils  in  their  use  nu- 
merous lessons  are  given,  varied  only  enough  to  avoid  monot- 
ony. The  pupil  being  able  to  plane  a  piece  fairly  well  and 
to  keep  to  the  line  in  sawing,  the  next  step  is  to  teach  him 
to  add  the  use  of  the  chisel  in  producing  simple  joints  of 
various  kinds.  The  particular  shapes  are  given  with  the 
intent  to  familiarize  the  pupil  with  the  customary  styles 
and  methods  of  construction. 

The  different  sizes  of  the  same  tool — chisels,  for  in- 
stance— require  different  care  and  methods  of  handling,  and 
the  means  of  overcoming  irregularities  and  defects  in  mate- 
rial form  another  chapter  in  the  instruction  to  be  given. 

With  the  introduction  of  each  tool,  the  pupils  are  taught 
how  to  keep  the  same  in  order.  They  are  taught  that  sharp 
tools  are  absolutely  necessary  to  good  work  ;  to  make  them 
realize  this  is  a  most  difficult  task. 

TURNING. 

In  a  general  way,  much  that  has  already  been  stated  ap- 
plies to  wood-turning.  Five  or  six  tools  only  are  used,  and, 
from  previous  experience,  tlie  pujiils  know  how  to  keep 
them  in  order.  At  first  a  large  gouge  only  is  issued,  and 
the  pupils  are  taught  and  drilled  in  its  use  in  roughing  out 
and  producing  right-line  figures  ;  then  convex  and  concave 
surfaces  ;  then  in  work  comprising  all  these — all  in  wood- 


APPENDIX.  373 

turning  with  the  grain.  A  wide  chisel  follows,  and  its  use 
in  conjunction  with  the  gouge  is  taught. 

After  this  a  smaller  gouge,  chisel,  and  parting  tool,  and 
a  round-point  are  given,  and  a  variety  of  shapes  are  exe- 
cuted. Next  comes  turning  across  the  grain  ;  then  bored 
and  hollow  work  ;  next,  chucking,  and  the  various  ways  of 
manipulating  wood  on  face-plates,  chucks,  mandrels,  etc.  ; 
finally,  turning  of  fancy  woods,  polishing.  Jointing,  and 
pattern-work. 

Of  the  course  in  iron-work,  nothing  must  as  yet  he  said, 
for  the  reason  that  we  desire  to  speak  only  of  work  gone 
over,  and  that  department  is  not  yet  fully  developed. 

THE    ORIGIN    AND    PUEPOSE    OF   THE    SCHOOL. 

The  Manual  Training  School  owes  its  existence  to  the 
conviction,  on  the  part  of  its  founders,  that  the  interests  of 
St.  Louis  demand  for  young  men  a  system  of  education 
which  shall  fit  them  for  the  actual  duties  of  life,  in  a  more 
direct  and  positive  manner  than  is  done  in  the  ordinary 
American  school. 

We  see,  in  the  future,  an  increasing  demand  for  thor- 
oughly trained  men  to  take  positions  in  manufacturing  es- 
tablishments as  superintendents,  as  foremen,  and  as  skilled 
workmen.  The  youth  of  to-day  are  to  be  the  men  of  the 
next  generation.  It  is  important  that  we  keep  their  prob- 
able life-work  in  view,  in  providing  for  their  education. 
Excellent  as  are  our  established  schools,  both  public  and 
private,  it  must  be  admitted  that  they  still  leave  something 
to  be  desired  ;  they  do  not,  and  probably  they  can  not,  cover 
the  whole  ground. 

It  is  believed  that,  to  all  students,  without  regard  to 
plans  for  the  future,  the  value  of  the  training  which  can  be 
got  in  shop-work,  spending  only  from  four  to  twelve  hours 


374    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

per  week,  is  abundantly  sufficient  to  justify  the  expense  of 
materials,  tools,  and  expert  teachers. 

It  is  very  well  understood  that  many  students  can  not 
wisely  undertake  the  full  course  of  intellectual  study  now 
laid  down  for  the  regular  classes  of  a  college  or  polytechnic 
school.  It  occasionally  happens  that  students  who  have 
special  aptitudes  in  certain  directions,  find  great  difficulty 
in  mastering  subjects  in  other  direction.  In  such  cases  it 
is  often  the  best  course  to  yield  to  natural  tastes,  and  to  as- 
sist the  student  in  finding  his  proper  sphere  of  work  and 
study.  A  decided  aptitude  for  handicraft  is  not  unfre- 
quently  coupled  with  a  strong  aversion  to  and  unfitness  for 
abstract  and  theoretical  investigations. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  in  such  cases,  more  time 
should  be  spent  in  the  shop  and  less  in  the  lecture  and  reci- 
tation room. 

One  great  object  of  the  school  is  to  foster  a  higher  ap- 
preciation of  the  value  and  dignity  of  intelligent  labor,  and 
the  worth  and  respectability  of  laboring-men.  A  boy  who 
sees  nothing  in  manual  labor  but  mere  brute  force,  despises 
both  the  labor  and  the  laborer.  With  the  acquisition  of 
skill  in  himself  comes  the  ability  and  the  willingness  to 
recognize  skill  in  his  follows.  When  once  he  appreciates 
skill  in  handicraft,  he  regards  the  workman  with  sympathy 
and  respect. 

In  a  manual  training-school,  tool-work  never  descends 
into  drudgery.  The  tasks  are  not  long,  nor  are  they  unne- 
cessarily repeated.  In  this  school,  whatever  may  be  the  so- 
cial standing  or  importance  of  the  fathers,  the  sons  go  to- 
gether to  the  same  work,  and  are  tested  physically,  as  well 
as  intcllcciually,  by  the  same  standards.  The  result  in  the 
past  has  been,  and  in  the  future  it  will  continue  to  be,  a 
truer  estimate  of  laboring  and  manufacturing  people,  and  a 
sounder  judgment  on  all  social  problems. 


APPENDIX.  375 


APPENDIX   SECOND   TO   CHAPTER  V. 

*'  The  Imperial  Technical  School  of  Moscow  is  a  high- 
class  special  school,  principally  intended  for  the  education 
of  mechanical  constructors,  mechanical  engineers,  and  tech- 
nical engineers. 

*'  The  school  consists  of  two  divisions,  general  and  spe- 
cial, each  of  which  has  a  course  of  three  years.  The  special 
division  is  divided  into  three  branches — mechanical  con- 
struction, mechanical  engineering,  and  technological  engi- 
neering. 

**The  three  years'  course  of  the  general  division  em- 
braces the  following  subjects  :  Eeligion,  free-hand  and 
linear  drawing,  descriptive  geometry,  general  physics, 
zoology,  botany,  mineralogy,  chemistry,  geodesy,  analyti- 
cal geometry,  higher  algebra,  differential  and  integral  cal- 
culus, general  mechanics,  drawing  of  machine-parts,  the 
French  and  German  languages,  i.  e.,  all  scientific  subjects, 
the  previous  knowledge  of  which  is  required  from  the  pu- 
pils of  all  the  three  following  branches, 

*'In  the  special  department,  the  three  years'  course  of 
the  three  branches  contains  the  following  subjects  :  Or- 
ganic and  analytical  chemistry,  metallurgy,  practical  phys- 
ics, mechanical  and  chemical  technology,  technics  of  wood 
and  metals,  analytical  mechanics,  construction  of  ma- 
chines, practical  mechanics,  railway  construction,  engi- 
neering and  constructive  art,  projecting  and  estimating 
of  machines,  works,  and  mills,  industrial  statistics,  and 
book-keeping. 

"A  fourth  division  is  designed  exclusively  for  the  edu- 
cation of  foremen  {contrcmaitref>),  and  is  called  the  Practi- 
cal Section.     It  is  reserved  for  pupils  who  have  received 


376    EDUCATION  IxV  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

good  marks  for  conduct  and  for  manual  work,  but  whose 
theoretical  attainments  are  insufficient  for  the  require- 
ments of  the  third  class.  Instead  of  passing  into  this, 
they  are  put  in  the  Practical  Section,  where  much  more 
attention  is  paid  to  workshop  practice.  The  whole  dura- 
tion of  their  studies  is  then  only  three  years. 

"  Every  one  of  the  appointed  sciences  is  taught  fully, 
or  in  a  condensed  form,  according  as  it  is  considered  a  fun- 
damental or  collateral  subject  of  the  given  branch.  The 
students  of  all  the  classes  are  occupied  during  a  stated  time 
in  practical  work  in  the  laboratories  and  mechanical  work- 
chops. 

"Admission  into  the  school  as  boarder  or  day  scholar  is 
obtained  by  competitive  examination,  in  accordance  with 
the  ordained  programme. 

"  Pupils  who  have  passed  through  the  full  school  course 
of  the  gymnasiums  may  be  admitted  without  further  exami- 
nation to  the  lectures  of  the  second  general  class  of  the 
school,  but  pupils  of  the  last  class  of  the  gymnasiums,  who 
have  not  passed  their  final  examinations,  are  admitted  only 
to  the  first  general  class  of  the  school. 

"The  pupils  wear  the  appointed  half-military  uni- 
form. 

"Pupils  who  have  obtained  in  the  school  the  appointed 
grades  receive  acknowledged  rights  in  the  service  of  the 
government. 

"  The  school  is  maintained  by  funds  from  the  follow- 
ing sources  :  Percentage  on  funded  capital,*  fees  of  private 
boarders  and  foreign  hearers,  and  profits  received  from  the 
mechanical  works. 

"  The  annual  receipts  of  the  school  amount  to  $160,000. 

**  The  annual  expenses  of  the  school  amount  to  $140,000. 

*  The  school  capital  amounts  to  about  $2,030,000. 


APPENDIX.  377 

"  The  technical  school  is  under  the  immediate  patronage 
of  their  Imperial  Majesties. 

"Auxiliaries  to  Instruction.  —  The  school  possesses  a 
special  library,  containing  more  than  six  thousand  volumes 
of  works  on  specialties,  a  cabinet  of  physics,  two  chemical 
laboratories,  a  cabinet  of  mechanical  models,  a  cabinet  of 
natural  history,  extensive  mechanical  works  with  separate 
smithy  and  foundry,  and  also  school  workshops. 

"No  one  will  deny  that  a  close  acquaintance  with  hand 
labor,  and,  in  general,  practical  experience  in  mechanical 
works,  are  matters  of  the  utmost  importance  to  every  en- 
gineer.* The  drawings  of  an  engineer  thus  trained  will 
always  be  distinguished  by  solidity  and  that  j)ractical  judg- 
ment which  is  the  result  not  only  of  the  study  of  scientific 
truths,  but  also  of  the  acquirement  of  a  certain  familiarity 
in  their  application  to  practice.  That  the  knowledge  of 
hand-labor  is  of  extreme  importance  to  a  young  man  de- 
voting himself  to  technical  activity,  and  that  it  is  consid- 
ered an  absolute  necessity  to  him,  we  are  convinced  by  the 
circumstance  that  the  greater  number  of  the  polytechnic 
schools  of  Western  Europe  demand  from  the  students  who 
enter  them  either  a  previous  stay,  of  a  certain  duration,  at 
some  works  of  industry,  or  issue  to  them  a  diploma,  attest- 
ing their  accomplishment  of  the  course,  after  they  are  in 
position  to  show  that  they  have  been  occupied  practically 
for  a  definite  period  at  some  such  works  on  their  leaving 
the  school,  f 

**If  we  contemplate  the  matter  itself  more  profoundly, 
and  acquaint  ourselves  more  closely  with  the  circumstances 

*  We  speak  here  of  mechanical  engineers  and  constructors. 
f  This  statement  is  decried  by  Professor  Ludwig,  of  the  Slunich  Poly- 
technic School,  than  whom  no  man  is  in  a  better  position  to  judge. 


378    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

of  the  practician  at  private  works  and  mills,  we  must,  dis- 
regarding exceptional  cases,  since  it  is  not  those  which  form 
the  rule,  arrive  at  the  sad  conclusion  that  a  young  man, 
desiring  to  acquire  practical  experience  in  a  short  time,  and 
without  the  aid  of  an  experienced  guide,  loses,  at  private 
works,  nine  tenths  of  his  whole  time  entirely  unprofitably. 
As  we  are  at  present  addressing  persons  well  acquainted 
with  this  matter,  we  do  not  consider  it  necessary  to  bring 
forward  arguments  in  support  of  our  statement.  The  prac- 
tical information  acquired  in  works  by  a  young  man  before 
entering  a  polytechnical  school  is  very  inconsiderable,  and 
therefore  does  not  possess  the  desired  significance. 

"Such  information  is,  on  account  of  its  defectiveness, 
of  little  assistance  in  promoting  the  study  at  school  of  prac- 
tical mechanics — the  construction  of  machines,  or  the  draw- 
ing up  of  plans  and  estimates  for  mills  and  works. 

*' A  young  man  on  leaving  a  polytechnic  school  should 
endeavor  to  carry  on  liis  practical  education ;  should  fix 
upon  some  mill  or  works  in  which,  being,  in  the  majority 
of  cases,  of  course,  left  to  his  own  initiative,  he  may  find 
place  and  opportunity  for  his  further  self -education. 

"At  this  moment,  so  critical  in  the  career  of  the  youth- 
ful engineer,  the  insufficiency  of  material  resources  is  the 
cause  that  the  majority  take  service,  at  a  very  low  rate  of 
remuneration,  as  draughtsmen  in  the  drawing-ofl&ce  of  me- 
chanical works,  or  in  the  drawing-offices  of  railway  compa- 
nies ;  others,  more  fortunate,  enter  works  in  the  quality  of 
artisans  ;  but  even  they  are  hardly  to  be  envied,  simply 
from  the  fact  that  in  the  majority  of  cases  the  specialty  of 
the  first  works  which  they  happen  to  enter  becomes  their 
own  specialty  through  life.  An  experienced  observer  will 
find  no  difficulty  in  perceiving  all  the  inconveniences  to  a 
technical  education  which  arise  as  the  result  of  such  an  or- 
der of  things.     Let  us  explain  this  by  examples  :  A  young 


APPENDIX.  379 

man,  having  received  thorough  scientific  preparation  in  a 
polytechnic  school,  has  entered  as  artisan  practician  some 
extensive  joiner-works,  and  in  a  year  or  two  begins  to  serve 
in  the  capacity  of  a  workman,  receiving  pay  from  the  works. 
If,  from  any  circumstance  whatever,  he  becomes  deprived 
of  his  place,  he  finds  it  necessary  to  seek  another  in  a  simi- 
lar Joiner-works,  or  else  to  enter  again  as  practician  in  an- 
other specialty,  for  instance,  a  locomotive,  boiler,  or  other 
works.  The  material  resources  of  young  men  preclude,  in 
the  majority  of  cases,  the  possibility  of  their  deciding  on 
the  latter  alternative. 

*'If  the  observant  directors  of  polytechnic  schools  should 
take  upon  themselves  the  work  of  following  the  industrial 
career  of  the  contingent  of  their  pupils  who  on  leaving 
school  enter  a  drawing-office,  they  would  easily  perceive  that 
those  young  peojile  experience  extreme  difficulty,  when  they 
are  once  engaged  there,  in  leaving  such  an  office,  and  in  the 
majority  of  cases  remain  draughtsmen  all  their  lives.  In 
such  offices  a  young  man  acquires  but  very  inconsiderable 
technical  information,  neither  can  they  in  any  way  serve 
him  as  practical  schools  for  his  further  self-instruction. 
And  we  must  here  observe,  also,  that  the  more  extensive 
the  works,  and  consequently  the  drawing-office  attached, 
the  fewer  are  the  advantages  offered  to  the  young  practician, 
since  he  has  to  do  with  an  institution  in  which  division  of 
labor,  forming  an  essential  principle,  will  not  admit  of  his 
becoming  speedily  acquainted  with  the  general  progress  of 
work.  We  can  not  but  add  that  this  principle,  having 
become  latterly  extensively  applied  in  all  large  works  and 
mills,  though  on  the  one  hand  bringing  considerable  mate- 
rial advantages  to  the  proprietors,  has,  on  the  other,  greatly 
influenced  the  depreciation  of  the  level  of  technical  knowl- 
edge among  the  workmen,  by  confining  that  knowledge 
within  the  limits  of  narrow  specialization. 


380    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

**The  technical  education  afforded  to  young  men  in 
almost  all  the  polytechnic  schools  of  Europe  leaves,  theo- 
retically speaking,  little  to  desire,  but  is  exceedingly  imper- 
fect practically,  and  demands  the  particular  attention  of 
those  persons  who  are  intrusted  with  such  instruction. 

**  The  peculiar  circumstances  by  which  the  young  peo- 
ple who  have  finished  the  course  of  the  polytechnicums 
find  themselves  surrounded  do  not  admit,  before  their  en- 
tering upon  an  active  life,  of  the  acquirement  of  even  a 
superficial  general  practical  education,  but  place  them  in 
the  necessity  of  devoting  all  their  activity  from  the  first 
day  of  their  leaving  school,  and  often  their  whole  life,  to  a 
narrow  specialty.  The  attention  of  the  directors  of  poly- 
technic schools  has  often  been  drawn  to  this,  and  attempts 
have  frequently  been  made  to  familiarize  young  people  at 
school  with  the  practical  work  of  mechanics,  but  all  these 
endeavors  have  proved  to  be  unattended  with  success,  from 
the  following  reasons  : 

*'  1.  The  school-workshops  for  the  practical  occupation 
of  the  students  were  constructed  on  a  very  miniature  and 
inconsiderable  scale. 

*'  2.  The  consequent  want  of  room  in  these  workshops 
did  not  admit  of  all  the  students  being  occupied  at  the 
same  time,  and  therefore  their  attendance  was  not  obliga- 
tory, while  the  majority  of  the  professors  and  masters  ex- 
pressed their  disapprobation  of  such  employment. 

"3.  There  existed  no  systematic  method  of  practical 
instruction  in  the  workshops  similar  to  that  which  had 
been  applied  to  the  practical  teaching  in  the  chemical  labo- 
ratories. 

"  4.  The  material  resources  assigned  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  school- workshops  were  very  inadequate. 

*'5.  The  time  allowed  for  the  full  course  of  study  in 
the  polytechnic  schools  was  insufficient  to  admit  of  the 


APPENDIX.  381 

combination,  in  that  course,  of  theoretical  with  practical 
instruction  in  technology, 

"Though  [before  the  year  1873]  there  had  appeared 
some  literary  articles  against  the  introduction  of  practical 
instruction  with  workshops  into  the  higher  technical  schools, 
yet  it  is  our  subjective  opinion  that  those  articles  appeared 
only  in  defense  of  the  existing  order  of  things,  and  to  jus- 
tify a  certain  lukewarmness  in  introducing  advantageous 
measures,  but  no  demonstration  of  the  results  of  trial  were 
afforded  among  the  arguments  against  such  a  mode  of 
instruction,  for  the  simple  reason  that,  excepting  feeble 
attempts,  no  serious  experiments  had  [then]  been  made. 
Even  those  attempts  themselves  were  made  without  any 
particular  energy  and  due  observation. 

"  We  do  not  here  take  into  calculation  some  of  the  at 
present  existing  technical  schools  of  France,  which  possess 
sufficiently  extensive  school-workshops,*  because  those 
schools  belong  rather  to  the  lower-class  technical  institu- 
tions, and  do  not  give  to  the  world  mechanical  engineers 
and  constructors,  but  only  foremen  (contremaitres). 

''The  slight  acquaintance  of  learned  technologists  with 
practical  work  in  mechanical  workshops  entails  the  unfortu- 
nate consequence  that,  in  the  greater  number  of  even  very 
extensive  works,  the  practical  part  remains  in  the  hands  of 
routined  artisans,  who  have  received  no  scientific  instruc- 
tion, but  who  have  attained  their  exceptional  position  by 
accustoming  themselves  during  the  course  of  many  years  to 
the  most  obsolete  methods  of  practice  in  the  mechanical  art. 

"The  Imperial  Technical  School  of  Moscow,  the  course 
of  which,  from  the  theoretical  subjects  taught  therein, 
equals  the  course  of  many  of  the  polytechnic  schools  of 

*  These  are  the  schools  of  Chalons,  Aix,  and  Angers. 


382    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

Western  Europe,  combines  theoretical  with  practical  edu- 
cation, and  consequently  is  enabled  to  present  real  proofs 
of  the  possibility  and  advantageousness  of  such  combina- 
tion, since  the  trial  of  this  combination  has  been  made  on 
an  extensive  scale,  and  during  a  considerable  length  of  time. 

"  For  the  practical  education  of  young  men  in  the  two 
branches — mechanical  engineers  and  mechanical  construct- 
ors*— the  school  possesses  large  mechanical  works  with 
hired  workmen,  accepting  and  carrying  out  orders  from 
private  individuals  and  on  a  commercial  footing,  for  the 
construction  of  steam-engines,  working-engines,  pumps, 
transmission  apparatus,  agricultural  machines,  etc.f 

''The  works  consist  of  the  following  shops:  Joiners' 
shop,  engineers'  shop,  erectors'  shop,  painters'  shop,  a  large 
forge  with  steel  hammer  and  fan-blast,  iron-foundry  with 
furnace  for  three  thousand  kilogrammes  of  metal,  and  brass- 
foundry  ;  the  works  have  also  a  drawing-oflBce  and  count- 
ing-house attached  to  them. 

''A  steam-engine  of  thirty  horse-power  is  used  for  the 
working  of  the  place,  while  the  foundry,  with  fan-blast  and 
coal-pulverizing  mill,  is  worked  by  an  engine  of  ten  horse- 
power. 

"The  works  are  under  the  management  of  the  head 
mechanical  engineer  [M.  Malichefl:],  and  his  assistant,  Pla- 
tonoff,  mechanical  engineer.  The  drawing-ofSce  is  in  the 
charge  of  M.  Gans,  mechanical  engineer.  .  .  . 

"  These  works,  being  within  the  walls  of  the  institution 
itself,  and  managed  by  well-instructed  technologists,  would 

*  Young  men  studying  the  technological  engineering  branch  are  ad- 
mitted to  the  laboratories  instead  of  the  mechanical  workshops. 

f  These  works  execute  private  orders  to  the  sum  of  from  $35,000  to 
$40,000  annually. 


APPENDIX.  383 

be  of  important  assistance  in  the  instruction  of  young  peo- 
ple, even  if  the  young  peoj^le  took  no  active  part  in  the 
practical  working  of  them. 

"  But,  in  order  that  the  pupils  may  derive  the  greatest 
possible  advantage  from  such  auxiliaries,  the  school  pos- 
sesses, apart  from  the  mechanical  works  and  intended  solely 
for  the  use  of  the  pupils,  school-workshops,  a  joiners'  shop 
with  turning-lathe,  pattern-shop,  metal  turning,  fitters' 
shop,  smithy,  and  molding-shop. 

"Every  one  of  these  shops  is  under  the  management  of 
a  technologist,  specialist,  or  of  a  skilled  workman,  and  their 
duty  is  to  instruct  the  pupils  in  the  rudiments  of  mechani- 
cal labor. 

"Every  young  man  becomes  acquainted,  by  fulfilling 
the  obligatory  programme,  with  all  the  work  of  mechanical 
art,  namely,  turning,  fitting,  carpentering,  and  forging,  in 
the  school-workshops,  and  only  then  is  admitted  to  the 
mechanical  works. 

"  We  shall  endeavor  to  speak  further  on  the  system  of 
teaching  the  arts  in  the  mechanical  workshops  of  the  school. 

"Up  to  the  present  time,  throughout  the  world,  the 
workmen  at  industrial  works  and  mills  are  usually  self- 
taught.  Any  one  who  has  himself  been  employed  at  works, 
and  is  familiar  with  the  daily  life  of  the  workman  in  the 
different  countries,  must  have  perceived  that  the  acquire- 
ment of  knowledge  and  skill  in  any  trade  is  to  him  a  pro- 
cess much  similar  to  the  following :  A  boy  of  thirteen  or 
fourteen  years  of  age  having  entered  a  mechanical  works  to 
learn  his  trade,  is  put,  during  the  first  few  years,  to  work 
of  an  entirely  unproductive  kind,  and  which  has  not  the 
slightest  relation  to  technics.  He  is  made  to  carry  water, 
sweep  the  workshop,  crush  emery,  grind  colors,  etc.  Only 
after  the  lapse  of  a  few  years,  and,  probably,  thanks  to  acci- 
dental circumstances,  a  chisel  or  a  file  is  put  into  the  hands 


384    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

of  the  youth  and  he  is  set  to  perform  the  rudest  and  sim- 
plest kind  of  work. 

"Then,  also,  if  he  happen  to  have  neither  father  nor 
brother  among  the  workmen  around  him,  he  begins  learn- 
ing his  trade  without  a  guiding  hand,  and  thus  commences 
acquiring  practical  knowledge  and  skill  in  his  trade  by  ob- 
serving those  about  him  in  the  workshop  and  by  his  own 
thought  and  calculation,  and  impelled  by  the  sole  desire  of 
attaining,  in  as  short  a  space  of  time  as  possible,  the  posi- 
tion of  a  paid  hand  in  the  works.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  under  such  circumstances  the  acquirement  of  skill  by 
the  new  generation  of  workmen  takes  place  in  an  extremely 
irrational  manner,  and  without  any  system  ;  the  amount  of 
knowledge  obtained  depends  upon  accident,  and  the  time 
thus  employed  is  of  disproportionate  length.  Besides  this, 
there  is  yet  another  inconvenience,  namely,  that  of  special- 
izing labor  to  too  fractional  a  degree.  The  young  work- 
man, placed  accidentally  at  a  drilling  or  planing  machine 
or  a  self-acting  lathe,  endeavors  to  remain  as  long  as  pos- 
sible at  his  machine,  encountering,  it  will  be  understood, 
no  objection  on  the  part  of  the  heads  of  the  workshops,  since 
such  specialization  of  labor  redounds  to  the  advantage  of 
the  proprietors,  owing  to  the  abundance  of  hands. 

"This  order  of  things  has  the  deplorable  result  that, 
notwithstanding  the  long-continued  stay  of  the  young 
workmen  at  mechanical  works,  which  is  sometimes  pro- 
longed through  the  major  part  of  the  years  of  their  man- 
hood, well-taught  and  skilled  fitters  are  almost  everywhere 
rarely  to  be  met  with.  This  will  be  confirmed  by  all  those 
constructors  who  demand  skilled  labor  for  the  erection  of 
models,  and  of  the  more  or  less  delicately  constructed  in- 
struments, machines,  and  apparatus. 

"  During  the  past  few  years  endeavors  have  been  con- 
tinually made  to  open  schools  for  the  instruction  of  the 


APPENDIX.  385 

workmen  at  all  works  of  any  considerable  extent.  The 
subjects  taught  in  these  schools  are  free-hand  and  linear 
drawing,  arithmetic,  and  many  others,  in  the  supposition 
that  practical  knowledge  of  works  will  be  acquired  in  the 
works  themselves. 

"  From  this  it  is  impossible  to  conclude  otherwise  than 
that  society,  while  taking  measures  to  civilize  the  working- 
classes,  gives,  at  the  same  time,  no  attention  whatever  to 
the  manner  in  which  the  young  workmen  acquire  practical 
experience  in  their  trades  at  the  works  ;  no  endeavors  have 
been  made  in  that  respect,  and  meanwhile,  in  our  opinion, 
the  question  is  worthy  of  particular  attention. 

"  The  conclusion,  however,  forces  itself  upon  us  that 
this  question  can  hardly  be  entered  into  until  the  young 
well-taught  technologists,  leaving  polytechnic  schools,  shall 
themselves  possess  rational  experience  in  practical  hand- 
labor.  In  order  that  their  education  as  specialists  shall  be 
full  and  ample,  such  knowledge  is  indispensable  in  the 
highest  degree,  though,  until  the  present  time,  it  has  un- 
fortunately presented  a  prominent  deficiency  in  their  in- 
struction. Who  will  not  admit  that  the  knowledge  of  the 
manner  of  executing  given  work  is  a  necessity  to  one  who 
has  to  issue  the  project  of  such  work  ? 

"Acting  on  the  principle  that  mechanical  engineers 
and  mechanical  constructors,  whose  future  activity  will  be 
devoted  pre-eminently  to  mechanical  works,  should  have 
practical  experience  in  the  mechanical  arts,  the  Imperial 
Technical  School  has  employed  every  necessary  measure 
for  the  solution  of  this  difficulty  in  the  best  possible  man- 
ner. 

"  In  1868  the  school  council  considered  it  indispensable, 
in  order  to  secure  the  systematic  teaching  of  elementary 
practical  work,  as  well  as  for  the  more  convenient  supervis- 
ion of  the  pupils  while  practically  employed,  to  separate 


386    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

entirely  the  school-workshops  from  the  mechanical  ■works 
in  which  the  orders  from  private  individuals  are  executed, 
admitting  pupils  to  the  latter  only  when  they  have  perfect- 
ly acquired  the  principles  of  practical  labor. 

"  By  the  mere  separation  of  the  school-^vorkshops  from 
the  mechanical  works,  the  principal  aim  was,  however,  far 
from  being  attained  ;  it  was  found  necessary  to  work  out 
such  a  method  of  teaching  the  elementary  principles  of 
mechanical  art  as,  firstly,  should  demand  the  least  possible 
length  of  time  for  their  acquirement ;  secondly,  should  in- 
crease the  facility  of  the  supervision  of  the  gradationary 
employment  of  the  pupils  ;  thirdly,  should  impart  to  the 
study  itself  of  practical  work  the  character  of  a  sound,  sys- 
tematic acquirement  of  knowledge  ;  and,  fourthly  and  last- 
ly, as  should  facilitate  the  demonstration  of  the  progress  of 
every  pupil  at  every  stated  time.  Everybody  is  well  aware 
that  the  successful  study  of  any  art  whatsoever,  free-hand 
or  linear  drawing,  music,  singing,  painting,  etc.,  is  only 
attainable  when  the  first  attempts  at  any  of  them  are  strict- 
ly subject  to  the  laws  of  gradation  and  successiveness,  when 
every  student  adheres  to  a  definite  method  or  school,  sur- 
mounting, little  by  little,  and  by  certain  degrees,  the  difii- 
culties  to  be  encountered. 

'^AU  those  arts,  which  we  have  just  named,  possess  a 
method  of  study  which  has  been  well  worked  out  and  de- 
fined, because,  since  they  have  long  constituted  a  part  of 
the  education  of  the  well-instructed  classes  of  people, 
they  could  not  become  subject  to  scientific  analysis  ;  could 
not  but  become  the  objects  of  investigation,  with  a  view  of 
defining  those  conditions  which  might  render  the  study 
of  them  as  easy  and  regular  as  possible. 

"  This,  however,  can  not  relate  to  those  arts  which  have 
been  hitherto  pre-eminently  followed  by  the  common  and 
imperfectly  educated  class  of  work-peojDle,  but  a  knowledge 


APPENDIX.  387 

of  which  appears  at  the  present  moment  to  be  of  impor- 
tance to  the  educated  technologist. 

"These  arts  are:  wood- turning,  carpentering,  metal- 
turning,  fitting,  and  forging.  From  what  we  have  already 
said,  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  arrive  at  the  reason  of  the 
absence  of  a  strictly  systematic  method  for  the  study  of 
them,  nor  why  the  active  working  out  of  such  a  method, 
without  the  aid  of  enlightened  minds,  may  long  remain 
deferred. 

''Meanwhile,  the  necessity  of  such  a  method,  more  par- 
ticularly for  technical  educational  establishments,  admits 
of  not  the  slightest  doubt,  and  the  filling  up  of  this  want 
promises  evident  advantages,  not  only  in  the  matter  of 
scientific  technical  education,  but  also  with  regard  to  the 
practical  instruction  of  the  work-people,  and  consequently 
the  perfection  of  mechanical  hand-labor  itself,  which,  from 
the  introduction  of  specially  adapted  machinery,  is,  year 
by  year,  perceptibly  deteriorating. 

"If  we  except  the  attempts  made  in  France,  in  the 
year  1867,  by  the  celebrated  and  learned  mechanical  engi- 
neer, A.  Clair,  to  form  a  collection  of  models  for  the  prac- 
tical study  of  the  principal  methods  of  forging  and  welding 
iron  and  steel,  as  well  as  the  chief  parts  of  Joiners'  work, 
and  this,  with  a  purely  demonstrative  aim,  no  one,  so  far 
as  we  are  aware,  has  hitherto  been  actively  engaged  in  the 
working  out  of  this  question  in  its  application  to  the  study 
of  hand-labor  in  workshops.  To  the  Imperial  Technical 
School  belongs  the  initiative  in  the  introduction  of  a  sys- 
tematic method  of  teaching  the  arts  of  turning,  carpenter- 
ing, fitting,  and  forging. 

"  To  the  knowledge  and  experience  in  these  specialties 
of  the  gentlemen  intrusted  with  the  management  of  the 
school-workshops,  and  to  their  warm  sympathy  in  the  mat- 
ter of  practical  education,  we  are  indebted  for  the  drawing 


388    EDUCATION  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDUSTRY. 

up  of  the  programme  of  systematic  instruction  in  the  me- 
chanical arts,  for  its  introduction  in  the  year  18G8  into  the 
workshops,  and  also  for  the  preparation  of  the  necessary 
auxiliaries  to  study.  In  the  year  1870,  at  the  Exhibition 
of  Manufactures  at  St.  Petersburg,  the  school  exhibited  its 
methods  of  teaching  mechanical  arts,  and  from  that  time 
they  have  been  introduced  into  all  the  technical  schools  of 
Russia. 

*'  The  auxiliaries  of  education  employed  in  teaching 
mechanical  arts  were  exhibited  at  the  International  Exhi- 
bition of  Vienna  and  that  of  Philadelphia,  in  order  that 
specialists  in  these  matters  might  become  acquainted  with 
them. 

"  The  auxiliaries  of  education  appointed  for  the  teach- 
ing of  any  mechanical  work  whatever — for  example,  fitters' 
work — are  classed  in  three  categories  ;  to  the  first  of  these 
belong  the  collections  of  instruments  employed  in  fitters' 
work,  with  which  the  beginner  must  make  himself  perfect- 
ly familiar  before  entering  upon  work,  and  afterward  to 
use  these  instruments  during  the  execution  of  the  work 
itself. 

"  To  this  category  relate  all  those  collections  of  models 
indispensable  to  the  teacher  of  fitters'  work,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  demonstration  :  the  collection  of  instruments  most 
in  use  for  measuring,  full  size  ;  the  collection  of  instru- 
ments, full  size,  for  drilling  metals  ;  the  collection  of  in- 
struments, full  size,  for  finishing,  from  the  smithy  to  the 
fitting-shop  inclusive. 

"  Models  of  files,  increased  to  twenty-four  times  the 
ordinary  size,  for  the  purpose  of  demonstrating  the  surface 
of  the  incision  ;  the  collection  of  models  of  instruments 
employed  in  cutting  screws  and  nuts,  increased  six  times 
ordinary  size,  for  the  study  of  the  direction  of  the  angles 
of  incision  ;  the  collection  of  models  of  drills,  increased  six 


APPENDIX.  389 

times,  for  the  practical  study  of  the  cutting  angles ;  and, 
lastly,  the  collection  of  instruments  and  apparatus  for  teach- 
ing the  tracing  of  yet  unworked  metal  articles.  We  con- 
sider it  our  duty  to  draw  the  attention  of  specialists  to  this 
last  collection,  for  the  organization  of  which  we  are  indebted 
to  our  skillful  instructor  of  fitters'  work,  Mr.  Savetkin,  me- 
chanical engineer. 

"  To  the  second  category  belong  the  collections  of  mod- 
els appointed  for  the  systematic  and  gradationary  study  of 
hand-labor  in  the  fitter's  art.  These  collections  have  the 
same  signification  with  regard  to  the  work  of  fitting  as  is 
allowed  to  scales  and  exercises  in  instruction  in  music. 
They  are  so  ordered  that  the  beginner  may  be  enabled  to 
overcome  by  certain  gradations  the  difiiculties  which  pre- 
sent themselves  before  him.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  glance 
at  the  adjoined  detailed  list  of  objects  contained  in  these 
collections,  and  to  examine  attentively  every  object  exhib- 
ited, to  be  convinced  ;  and  if  the  pupil,  under  the  guidance 
of  the  teacher,  carefully  fulfills  the  study  of  all  the  numbers 
embraced  in  the  collections,  or  rather  the  educational  pro- 
gramme of  the  art  of  fitting,  he  must  inevitably,  and  in  the 
most  rational  manner,  render  himself  familiar  with  all  the 
known  practical  hand-labor  of  this  art.* 

*'  Hence  we  arrive  at  the  conviction,  without  any  diffi- 
culty, that  with  such  a  system  of  teaching  the  supervision 
of  the  teacher  over  the  pupils,  and  his  observation  of  their 

*  In  the  apprentice  classes  each  student  is  not  obliged  to  complete  every 
number  in  the  programme  ;  but  the  work  is  nevertheless  so  divided  that  he 
becomes  familiar  with  each  piece.  While  a  student  is  making,  for  example, 
No.  2,  his  right-hand  neighbor  is  working  on  No.  1,  and  his  left-hand  neigh- 
bor on  No.  3,  so  that  he  sees  how  each  one  is  made.  lie  is  obliged,  more- 
over, to  listen  to  the  explanations  which  the  instructor  gives  to  his  neigh- 
bors, and  is  himself  afterward  examined  on  them.  The  pupils  in  the  prac- 
tical section  are,  however,  obliged  to  make  every  piece  on  the  list. 


390    EDUCATION  IX  ITS  RELATION  TO  MANUAL  INDL'STRY. 

progress,  become  exceedingly  easy.  He  need  only  remark 
that  every  number  of  the  programme  is  executed  satisfac- 
torily by  the  pupils,  and,  putting  the  following  one  before 
him,  give  the  requisite  explanations  for  the  succeeding 
work. 

"  In  such  a  case,  the  fact  of  a  great  number  of  pupils 
being  occupied  at  the  same  time  will  present  no  great  dis- 
advantage, nor  will  it  increase  the  arduousness  of  his  duty 
to  any  considerable  degree.  And,  further,  it  will  be  a  mat- 
ter of  impossibility  that  a  pupil  who  has  been  working  dur- 
ing a  few  years  in  the  workshop  should  fail  to  be  able  to  use 
the  drill,  or  to  trace  a  part  to  be  worked,  though  he  handle 
satisfactorily  the  chisel  or  the  file. 

"  To  the  third  category  belongs  the  collection  of  those 
articles,  or  parts  of  machines,  in  the  execution  of  which 
all  the  practical  hand-labor  of  the  fitter's  art  is  successively 
repeated,  having  been  acquired  during  the  studies  of  the 
previous  course. 

"  What  we  have  said  in  relation  to  the  manner  of  study 
of  the  work  of  fitting  must  be  accepted  also  with  regard  to 
the  other  branches  of  labor,  namely,  wood-turning,  carpen- 
tering, smithy,  and  foundry-work.   .   .  . 

"  In  conclusion,  we  consider  it  our  duty  to  observe  that 
ten  years  had  [in  1873]  already  elapsed  since  the  pro- 
grammes of  instruction  in  the  mechanical  arts  were  intro- 
duced into  the  workshops  of  the  school,  and  they  have 
been  found  to  attain  in  the  most  brilliant  manner  the  aim 
proposed  in  their  introduction. 

''Victor  Della-Vos." 


II^DEX. 


Adam  Smith's  views,  50. 
Agricultural    and    mechanical    col- 
leges, 78. 
American   Institute   of   Instruction, 

115. 
American  boys  and  the  trades,  185- 

193.  , 

Angell,  George  S.,  on    increase   of 

crime,  345. 
Applied  science,  321-328. 
Apprenticeship,  145,  1*78,  19G,  198, 

245,  246. 
Artist  and  artisan,  43. 
Art  bestows  value  on  material,  54, 

55,  177. 
Arts,  the  fine  and  useful,  90,  91. 
Art  of  drawing,  117. 

decorative,  at  Pompeii,  137. 
in  ceramics,  151. 
in  pottery,  153. 

in  school  at  Trenton,  N.  J.,  1 53, 1 54. 
Art-education,  105. 
Art-industry,  177. 
Art,  mechanic,  304,  305. 

dependent  upon  science,  315. 
Art,  Morisco,  139. 
Art-needlework,  228-231. 
Art  applied  to  industry  and  science, 

304. 
Art-schools  in  England,  249. 
Arts  ruled  by  similar  principles,  258. 
Auchmuty's  (R.  T.)  contributions  to 
trade-schools  in  New  York,  222. 
Austria,  industrial  schools  in,  28. 
Art-workmanship,    its   influence   on 
the  condition  of  the  men,  359- 
361. 


Augusts  Comte's  views,  90. 
Axioms  in  political  economy,  48. 

Beauty  a  universal  element,  158. 
Beautiful  and  the  useful,  178. 
Besan9on  municipal  school,  14. 
Boston  school  committee,  292. 
British  art-education,  36. 

artisans  sent  to  the  Continent  in 
1867,  36. 
British  increase  inart  productions,40. 

art-schools,  39. 

Clarke's  (John  S.)  views,  115. 
Classical  learning,  334-336. 
Chemistry  in  the  art  of  dyeing,  156. 
Children,  early  education  of,  2. 
Cincinnati  School  of  Design,  244. 
Citv  and  Guilds  of  London  Institute, 

'  319. 
Cramming  process,  357. 

the  antidote,  359. 

Decoration  and  ornament,  126. 
Denmark,  industrial  school  in,  28. 
Drawing,  applications  of,  132,  133, 

to  colored  patterns,  155. 

a  practical  art,  157. 

a  required  study,  159,  160. 

in  Boston  schools,  162. 

present  system  of  teaching,  162- 
164. 

ornament  and  design  in,  164,  165. 

mechanical,  165-168. 

importance,  by  Prof.  Kriisi,  168. 

as  a  means  of  intellectual  disci- 
pline, 170-173. 


592 


INDEX. 


Drawing,  report  of  Royal   Commis- 
sioners (English),  173. 

law  in  Massachusetts,  150. 

in  the  order  of  studies,  117. 

as  an  art,  117-174. 

indispensable  to  useful  art,  306. 
Dwight  School,  Boston,  227. 

£cole  Municipal  d'Apprentis,  13. 

des  Arts  et  Metiers,  22. 
Education,  duty  of  Government,  112- 
114. 
equality  of,  5. 

by  lessons  of  experience,  101,  102. 
of  Indians  at  Hampton  and  Car- 
lisle, 355. 
national  systems  of,  336-338. 
at  Athens,  Rome,Germany,  France, 

Scotland,  England,  336-338. 
need  of  practical,  106. 
suggested  by  the  senses  and  man's 
physical  structure,  109-111. 
Englaud,  education  of  her  working- 
men,  35. 
Eye,  culture  of  the,  6,  96. 

Finsbury  Technical  College,  319. 
France,  industrial  history  of,  10-12. 
Government  aid,  25. 

Germany,  industrial  schools  in,  26. 
Gladstone's  eulogium  on  Wedgwood, 

148,  149. 
Government  aid,  112. 
Great  Britain,  commerce  of,  12. 
Greek  and  Greece,  92-98. 

Hand-culture,  6,  8,  96. 
Hand-tools  and  hand-skill,  73,  313. 
Ilolyoke  College,  94. 

Ideas,  want  of  power  in  mere,  5. 
Idleness  a  source  of  vice  and  crime, 

344-348. 
Illinois  Industrial  University,  60. 
Immigration,  141-147. 
Industrial  education,  1. 
Industrial  school — is  it  adapted  to 

the  United  States  ?  218-220. 
Industrial  schools  first  in  France,  13. 


Industrial  schools  at  Besan^on,  14. 

of  the  Christian  Brothers,  15. 

of  MM.  Chaix  &;  Co.,  16. 

at  Creuzot,  18. 

at  Ncuwelt,  19. 

at  Mulhouse,  20. 

at  Limoges,  21. 

in  Europe,  198-218. 

moral  influence  of,  193-195. 

in  the  United  States,  221-247. 

in  New  York  city,  222. 

in  Trenton,  N.  J.,  228. 

in  Montciair,  N.  J.,  231-236. 

Spring  Garden  Institute,  241. 

in  West  Washington,  D.  C,  243. 

the  working-man's  best  hope,  365. 

classified,  272-274. 

of  S.  P.  Buggies,  274-277. 
Industry,   moral   influence   of,  347- 
,  350. 

public  instruction  in,  249. 

mode  of  instruction,  261-263. 
Industrial  science,  321-328. 
Inventions  and  inveutive  faculties  cf 
Americans,  331-334. 

Jenkins,  Professor,  address  on  the 
subject  of  apprenticeship,  182. 

Labor,  skilled,  from  abroad,  140. 

value  of  skilled,  146. 

subdivision  of,  245,  330. 
Lasell  Seminary,  225. 
Language  and  thought,  4. 
Leland's  (C.  G.)  school  for  art-work, 

236. 
Lessons  of  things,  4,  101. 

MacAlister's  views  and  address,  251, 

279. 
Machinery,  the  use  of,  307-312. 
influence  of,  339. 
and  science,  340. 
Magnus,   Philip,    on    use    of    tools, 

257. 
Manual   training   in  public  schools, 
257,  258,  272-320. 
expense  of  same,  296-300. 
Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technol- 
osrv,  64. 


INDEX. 


393 


Mechanical  skill,  343, 

drawing,  165. 
Mental  training,  300. 
Mission  of  the  physical  organs,  4. 

Netherlands,   industrial   schools   in, 

28. 
New  England,  55. 

Objections  stated,  253-256. 
Cutis  on  modern  education,  8. 
on  drawing,  129. 

Palissy,  Bernard,  147,  150,  151. 
Parton's  (James)  views,  188. 
Philosophy  and  manual  skill,  3. 
Potter's  art,  147-156. 
Porcelain,  American,  151-155. 

Pichards's  (Zalmon)  views,  349. 
Runkle's  (Professor)  views,  294. 
Russian  industrial  education,  29. 
Russia,  schools  at  capitals  of,  30,  32, 

48. 
Russian  plan,  72. 

appendix    second,  explaining   the 
same,  375. 

Schools  of  art  and  design,  104. 

drawing  in,  118. 

of  industrial  art-work  at  Philadel- 
phia, 236. 

for  manual  training,  108. 

cost  of  supporting,  301. 

Professor     Runkle's     views     of, 
302. 

sewing  in,  228,  236,  241. 

statistics  of,  176. 

progressive,  351. 

British  report  on  the  same,  351. 
Senses — five  in  number,  9. 
Science  applied  to  the  useful  arts, 

321-328. 
Smith's  (Walter)  views,  291. 
South  Kensington  Museum,  London, 

36. 
Spring  Garden  Institute,  241. 
Statistics  of  crime,  345. 

18  ' 


Steele's  (E.  T.)  views,  269. 
Sweden,  industrial  schools  in,  28. 

Tariff  commission,  143. 
Technical  education,  79. 

schools,  76-78. 
Trade,  property  in  a,  180-184. 
Trades  easily  learned,  258,  259. 
Trade-schools  in  New  York,  222-224. 

in  Montclair,  N.  J.,  231, 

Trenton,  N.  J.,  225. 
Trades-unions,  144, 

and  apprenticeship,  179-184. 
Trenton,  N.  J.,  strike  at,  153. 

United   States,  industrial   resources 
of,  45-53. 

products  of,  47. 

industrial  education  in,  45. 

cheap  lands  in,  49. 

technological  schools  in,  63. 

public-school  system  of,  99,  100, 
103. 

school  statistics  in,  176. 
University  extension  scheme,  1S3. 

Victor  Cousin,  views  of,  90. 

Walker's  (Francis  A.)  views,  66. 
Washington     University     Training- 

School,  74,  75. 
Wedgwood,  Josiah,  147. 
White  House  table-service,  140. 
White,   E.  E.,  on  manual   training, 

251. 
White's  (R.  G.)  views,  284. 
Women,  higher  education  for,  81-93. 
professions   and  trades   open   to, 

84-86, 
co-education  of,  93. 
industrial  education  of,  88. 
Emily  Faithful,  views  of,  87. 
Workshops   and   high-schools,    317, 
318. 
and  instruction,  328,  329. 

Appendix  First,  367. 
Appendix  Second,  375. 


EDUCATION   IN   RELATION   TO 
MANUAL   INDUSTRY. 

By  Arthur  MacArthur,  LL.  D.      12mo.      Cloth,  $1.50. 

"Mr.  MacArthnr's  able  treatise  is  designed  to  adapt  to  the  usual  methods  of 
instrnction  a  system  of  mdimental  science  and  manual  art.  He  describes  the 
progress  of  industrial  education  in  France,  Belgium,  Russia,  Germany,  and  Great 
Britain,  and  the  establishment  of  their  professional  schools.  The  technical 
schools  of  the  United  States  are  next  reviewed.  Mr.  Mac.^rthur  is  anxious  that 
the  State  governments  should  take  up  the  subject,  and  enable  every  girl  and  boy 
to  receive  a  practical  education  which  would  fit  them  for  use  in  this  world.  This 
valuable  book  should  be  carefully  read  and  meditated  upon.  The  discussion  is 
of  high  ivapoitance.'"—Fhiladelp/iia  Public  Ledger. 

"The  importance  of  this  book  can  not  be  too  greatly  nrged.  It  gives  a 
statistical  account  of  the  industries  of  various  countries,  the  number  of  workmen 
and  workwomen,  and  the  degree  of  perfection  attained.  America  is  behind  in 
native  production,  and,  when  we  read  of  the  importation  of  foreign  workmen  in 
simple  manufacture  such  as  glass,  it  is  a  stimulus  for  young  men  to  train  them- 
selves early  as  is  done  in  foreign  countries.  The  necessity  of  training-schools 
and  the  value  and  dignity  of  trades  are  made  evident  in  this  work.  It  is  particu- 
larly helpful  to  women,  as  it  mentions  the  variety  of  employments  which  they 
can  practice,  and  gives  the  success  already  reached  by  them.  It  serves  as  a  his- 
tory and  encyclopsedia  of  facts  relating  to  industries,  and  is  very  well  written."  — 
Boston  Globe.    '' 

"  The  advocates  of  industrial  education  in  schools  will  find  .t  very  complete 
manual  of  the  whole  subject  in  Mr.  MacArthur's  hoo^."— Springfield  Republican. 

"  A  sensible  and  much-needed  plea  for  the  establishment  of  schools  for  indus- 
try by  the  state,  supported  by  the  practical  illustration  of  what  has  been  accom- 
plished for  the  good  of  the  state  by  such  schools  in  foreign  countries.  Great 
britain  has  never  regretted  the  step  she  took  when,  recognizing  at  the  Crystal 
Palace  Exhibition  her  inferiority  in  industrial  art-work,  she  at  once  established 
the  South  Kensington  Museum,  with  its  annexed  art-schools,  at  a  cost  of  six  mill- 
ion dollars."-  The  Critic. 

"  The  aim  of  the  book  is  succinctly  stated,  as  it  ought  to  be,  in  the  preface : 
'What  is  industrial  education  ?  What  are  its  merits  and  objects,  and,  above  all, 
what  power  does  it  possess  of  ministering  to  some  useful  purpose  in  the  practical 
arts  of  life?'  These  are  questions  about  which  we  are  deeply  concerned  in  this 
country,  and  the  author  has  essayed  to  answer  them,  not  by  an  abstract  discus- 
sion of  technical  instniction,  but  by  giving  a  full  and  accurate  account  of  the 
experiments  in  industrial  training  which  have  been  actually  and  successfully 
carried  out  in  Europe." — New  York  Sun. 

"A  most  interesting  and  suggestive  work  on  a  matter  of  immediate  and 
universal  importance." — New  York  Daily  Graphic. 

"An  admirable  book  on  a  much-neglected  subject.  Those  countries  have 
made  the  roost  rapid  advance  in  the  line  of  new  industries  which  have  paid  the 
most  attention  to  the  methods  here  recommended  of  primary  instraction.  The 
land  that  neglects  them  will  sooner  or  later  cease  to  be  in  the  front  ranks  ot 
applied  science  and  the  useful  arts." — New  York  Journal  of  Commerce. 


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THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  ANATOMY,  PHYSIOLOGY,  AND  HY- 
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Education ;   Intellectual,  Moral,  and  Physical. 

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Education  as  a  Science. 

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This  Reader  is  not  simply  a  compilation  of  dry  statistics  from  the 
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AN    HISTORICAL   READER,  for  Glasses  in  Academies,  High 
Schools,  and  Grammar  Schools.      By  Henry  E.   Shepherd,  M.  A. 
12mo.     345  pages. 
A  collection  of  extracts  representing  the  purest  historical  literature 
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I.    Easy    Steps    for    Little    Feet.      Supplementary   to   First 
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Second  Reader.     Cloth.     192  pages. 
III.    Book    of  Tales.     Supplementary  to  Third  Reader.     Cloth. 

276  pages. 
IV.    Readings   in    the    Book    of  Nature.      Supplementary  to 
Fourth  Reader.     Cloth.     352  pages. 
V.    Seven  American  Classics.  )  Supplementary  to  Fifth  Reader. 
VI.   Seven  British  Classics.        )        Cloth.     224  pages  each. 

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APPLETONS'  INSTRUCTIVE  READING-BOOKS 

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THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  SERIES.  By  James  Johonnot, 
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Reader,"  "  IIow  We  Live,"  etc. 

No.  1.   Book    of  Cats    and    Do§:s,  and  other  Friends.     For 

Little  Folks.  12mo.  96  pages.  Deals  with  the  familiar  animals 
of  the  house  and  farmyard. 

No.  2.   Friends  in  Feathers  and  Fur  and  other  Neighbors. 

For  Young  Folks.  12mo.  140  pages.  Gives  an  account  of  the 
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No.  3.   Neighbors  with  Wings  and  Fins  and  some  others. 

For  Boys  and  Girls.  Interspersed  with  interesting  stories,  it  gives 
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No.  4.   Neighbors  Avith   Claivs  and   Hoofs   and   their  Kin. 

For  Young  People.  Begins  with  the  familiar  animals  of  house  and 
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KRUSrS   FREE-HAND,   INVENTIVE,  AND 
INDUSTRIAL  DRAWING. 

Adapted  to  the  Requirements  of  all  Grades  of  Fchools.  By  Hermann 
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EASY  DRAWING  LESSONS,  for  Kindergarten  and  Primary 
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GRADED  COURSE.     New  revised  edition. 

Part  I.    Synthetic  Series.      (Primary.)      Four  Drawing-Books 

and  a  Manual  for  Teachers. 
Part  II.   Analytic  Series.     (Intermediate.)     Four  Books  and 

Manual. 
Part  III.   Perspective  Series.     (Grammar  and  High  School.) 

Four  Books  and  Manual. 

Kriisi's  New  System  of  Drawing  is  pre-eminently  adapted  to  meet 
the  wants  of  our  public-school  instruction  in  this  branch. 

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It  has  for  its  basis  a  knowledge  of  the  actual  forms  in  Nature,  lead- 
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skillful  and  artistic  representation. 

It  acknowledges  the  fact  that  children  have  a  great  deal  of  ingenuity 
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It  therefore  supplies  an  Inventive  Course,  restricted  only  by  the  laws  of 
taste  and  order. 

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In  short,  it  is  the  only  system  which  has  fully,  philosophically,  and 
practically,  developed  the  subject  for  public  instruction  in  our  common 
schools. 

SUPPLEMENTARY  SERIES.  No.  1.  Elementary  Leaves  and 
Flowers.  No.  2.  Animals  in  Outline.  No.  3.  Studies  of  the  Human 
Form.  No.  4.  Exercises  in  Shading,  Foliage,  and  Trees.  No.  5. 
Landscapes.     No.  6.  Flowers. 

THE  ORIGINAL-DRAWING  BOOK.  Br  Edward  L.  Chi- 
chester. 

Designed  as  a  Supplementary  Drawing-Book,  and  especially  adapted 
to  Kriisi's  Synthetic  Drawing  Series.  The  author  tells  the  story  of 
"Tim's  Journey,"  and  the  pupil  illustrates  it  by  drawing  the  objects 
described,  in  blank  spaces  left  for  the  purpose.  It  is  arranged  for 
twenty-nine  larje  illustrations. 


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KRUSrS  INDUSTRIAL  DRAWING, 


ELEMEXTARY     MECHANICAL    DRAWING.      By  Fkank 

B.  Morse,  Instructor  in  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology. 

Six  Booiis. 
Tins  course  gives  a  knowledge  of  the  uses  of  different  drawing  instru- 
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as  earth,  stone,  wood,  and  metals.  It  then  presents  and  explains  all  the 
useful  problems  in  geometrical  drawing,  with  their  practical  applications, 

ELEMENTARY  ARCHITECTURE.  By  Charles  Babcock, 
Professor  of  Architecture,  Cornell  University.  Nine  Books. 
The  series  includes  the  course  pursued  by  the  students  in  the  archi- 
tectural department  of  the  University,  and  contains  the  practice  necessary 
for  every  student  in  architecture.  It  is  eminently  practical,  and  the  work 
furnishes  that  training  of  the  muscles  and  knowledge  of  the  use  of  instru- 
ments which  practical  life  demands. 

OUTLINE  AND  RELIEF  DESIGNS,  representing  Architectural 
and  Sculptural  Ornaments,  and  their  Historical  Development.     By 
E.  C.  Cleaves,  Professor  of  Drawing  and  Designing,  Cornell  Uni- 
versity.    Six  Books. 
This  series  is  a  companion  to  that  upon  the  Elements  of  Architecture, 
and,  while  serving  its  purpose  of  furnishing  valuable  drawing-lessons,  and 
instruction  in  the  decorative  art,  it  will  also  be  found  of  great  value  as 
illustrating  the  successive  steps  in  aesthetic  attainment,  and  the  effect  of 
natural  environment  in  determining  the  taste  of  a  people. 

TEXTILE    DESIGNS,  for  Calico  and  other  Print  Goods,  Carpets, 
Wall-Paper,  Silks,  Laces,   Cashmeres,  and  the  like.     By  Charles 
Kastner,  Lowell  Professor  of   Design,   Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology.     Six  Books. 
The  series  upon  Textile  Designs  is  intended  to  show  the  application  of 
the  general  principles  of  drawing  to  designing  ;  to  give  practical  instruc- 
tion in  the  technical  preparation  of  designs  for  the  various  fabrics ;  and 
to  cultivate  the  taste,  so  that  a  higher  art  may  result. 


KRUSI'S  DRAWING  TABLETS,  for  Elementary  Exercises  in 
Drawing.  Prepared  especially  to  accompany  the  Easy  Drawing  Les- 
sons and  the  Synthetic  Course.  Oblong  16mo.  30  sheets,  ruled  on 
one  side  in  quarter-inch  spaces. 

PRIMARY  DRAWING  CARDS.  For  Slate  and  Blackboard 
Exercises.  In  two  Parts  of  twelve  Cards  and  thirty-six  Exercises 
each.  Accompanied  by  instructions  for  drawing,  and  a  test  ruler. 
By  M.  J.  Green. 


New  York:    D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  1,  3,  &  5  Bond  Street. 


A  NEW  AND  CAREFULLY  REVISED  EDITION  OF 
JOHN  STUART  MILL'S 

Principles  of  Political  Economy. 


By  JAMES  LAURENCE  LAUGHLIN,  Ph.D., 
Assistant   ProfcHsor  of  Political  Economy  in   Ilarvard  Uuiversity. 


No  writer  on  Political  Economy,  since  Adam  Smith,  the  acknowledged 
father  of  political  science,  can  be  compared  in  originality,  exact  and  for- 
cible expression,  and  apt  illustration,  to  John  Stuart  Will.  His  writings 
on  this  great  subject,  while  practical  and  popular  in  their  adaptation,  are 
also  characterized  by  the  true  philosophic  method.  In  his  knowledge  of 
facts  and  conditions,  his  clearness  of  understanding,  and  the  souncinet^s 
of  his  reasoning,  he  excels  all  other  writers  on  the  subject,  and  his  "Prin- 
ciples OF  Political  Economy  "  has  been  an  unfailing  source  of  informa- 
tion and  authority  to  all  subsequent  writers  and  students  of  political 
science. 

To  present  this  work  in  form,  size,  and  method,  somewhat  better 
adapted  to  class-room  use,  and  present  modes  of  study,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  preserve  it  so  far  as  possible  in  the  form  and  language  of  its 
great  author,  has  been  the  aim  in  the  present  revision.  The  editor  has 
made  this  work  essentially  a  revision,  and  not  a  si/stematic  rmtiilation. 
The  publishers  therefore  feel  confident  that  the  new  edition  will  be  found 
thoroughly  adapted  to  class  use,  and  as  such  will  prove  a  valuable  and 
satisfactory  text-book,  and  at  the  same  time  will  be  found  to  retain  and 
present  all  the  essential  and  valuable  features  of  the  original  work. 

*rhe  new  edition  retains,  in  its  own  clear  exposition,  the  connected 
system  of  the  original,  and  at  the  same  time  its  size  is  lessened  by  omit- 
ting what  is  Sociology  rather  than  Political  Economy.  The  difficulties  of 
the  more  abstract  portions  of  the  original  work  are  much  lightened,  and 
the  new  edition  presents,  in  connection  with  the  general  tenor  of  th& 
work,  some  important  additions  of  later  writers. 


The  publishers  respectfully  invite  Teachers  of  Political  Econ- 
omy to  examine  the  new  edition  of  Mill's  Principles  of  Political 
Economy  before  selecting  a  manual  for  their  classes. 


Retail  price,  S3. 50.    I>iberal  terms  for  introduction. 


Address       D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  Publishers, 

NEW  YORK.   BOSTON,  CHICAGO,  SAN  FRANCISCO. 


THE  NEW  PHYSICS. 

A  Manual  of  Experimental  Study  for  High   Schools 
and  Preparatory  Schools  for  College. 

By  JOHN   TROWBRIDGE, 

PROFESSOR   OF   rnYSICS,    HARVARD    UNIVERSITY. 

With  Illustrations 12ino.    Cloth,  $1.50. 


Prepared  with  special  reference  to  the  present  advanced  scientific  require- 
ments for  admission  to  the  leading  collegesi 

The  New  Physics  is  intended  as  a  class  manual  of  experimental 
study  in  Physics  for  colleges  and  advanced  preparatory  schools. 
It  involves  the  use  of  simple  trigonometrical  formulas  in  experimental 
demonstrations  and  in  the  discussions  and  mathematical  computations  of 
various  forms  of  energy. 

In  The  New  Physics,  Professor  Trowbridge  has  so  presented  the 
subjects  treated,  theoretically  and  practically,  as  to  furnish  to  the  student 
the  means  of  rigid  and  thorough  mental  discipline,  and  at  the  same  time 
of  acquiring  that  practical  knowledge  of  the  subject  which  will  properly 
prepare  him  for  subsequent  and  deeper  study  in  the  sciences.  The 
modern  tendency  of  physical  science  is  carefully  noted  and  clearly  shown 
by  means  of  the  illustrations  employed  and  their  mutual  relations. 

Professor  Trowbridge's  New  Physics  is  a  successful  and  complete 
refutation  of  the  fallacy  which  has  long  prevailed  among  those  who  adhere 
exclusively  to  the  classics  for  purposes  of  mental  discipline.  Its  text 
shows  that  the  mastery  of  certain  definite  and  proportionate  requirements 
in  the  sciences,  as  requisites  for  college  admission,  calling  for  definite 
attainment  before  entrance  upon  a  collegiate  course  of  study,  will  furnish, 
in  due  proportion,  that  mental  training  and  development  which  are  a 
necessary  preparation  for  the  broader  training  of  the  college  curriculum. 

The  New  Physics  is  also  adapted  to  the  use  of  colleges  and  special 
training-schools,  and  will  be  found  a  convenient  and  practical  text-book 
for  such  institutions. 


For  sale  by  all  booksellers;  or  sent  by  mail,  post-paid,  on  receipt  of  price. 


New  York:   D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  Publishers,  1,  3,  &  5  Bond  Street. 


DARWINISM  STATED  BY  DARWIN  HIM- 
SELF: 

CHARACTERISTIC  PASSAGES  FROM  THE  WRITINGS 
OF  CHARLES  DARWIN.  Selected  and  arranged  by  Pro- 
fessor Nathan  Sheppaed.    12mo,  cloth,  $1.50. 

By  means  of  a  systematic  selection  of  passages  from  the  various 
writings  of  Charles  Darwin,  the  reader  of  this  volume  is  enabled  to  grasp 
readily  the  scope  of  Darwin's  argument  as  to  the  origin  and  evolution  of 

species. 

"  I  think  you  have  done  it  weU." — Professor  Asa  Gray. 

"  It  seems  to  me  exceedingly  interesting,  and  I  will  call  the  attention 
of  those  interested  in  such  matters  in  this  institution  to  the  book." — 
Andrew  D.  White,  LL.  D.,  Presidc^d  of  Cornell  University. 

"  It  is  done  with  great  skill  and  judgment,  and  I  shall  be  glad  to  make 
such  use  of  the  work  as  circumstances  may  allow." — F.  B.  Palmer,  Ph.  D., 
Principal  of  State  Komud  School,  Predonia,  N.  Y. 

"  The  idea  of  culling  Darwin's  distinctive  teachings  from  his  many 
works,  and  giving  an  orderly  statement  of  them  in  his  own  language,  was 
a  happy  one,  and  ought  to  receive  due  recognition  in  a  large  demand  for 
the  book.  I  have  taken  pains  to  call  the  attention  of  our  senior  class  to 
the  book,  and  shall  ask  our  Professors  of  Natural  Science  to  make  such 
use  of  it  as  they  can  in  their  instructions." — E.  G.  PiObixson,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.,  President  of  Brown  University. 

"  An  intelligent  and  careful  compilation  of  his  (Darwin's)  own  state 
ments.  These  contain  great  and  weighty  truths,  and,  whether  we  accept 
his  results  as  verified  science  or  not,  they  are  worthy  of  the  careful  study 
of  all  intelligent  men."— M.  B.  Andersox,  LL.  D.,  President  of  Rochester 
University. 

"  It  is  a  real  contribution  to  our  knowledge  of  what  the  great  English 
naturalist  has  to  say.  Very  few  will  read  at  length  his  whole  works. 
Very  many  will  content  themselves  with  second-hand  information,  always 
a  misfortune.  I  shall  be  glad  to  recommend  it." — E.  Dodge,  D.  D., 
President  of  Madison  University. 

D.   APPLETON   &  CO.,  Publishers, 

New  York.  Boston.  Chicago,  Sax  Francisco. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    001  149  071    1 


DATE  DUE 


-WA/ — u!ffia 


'.  :->  h : 


TK 


jurusJ^ 


AUG  3 


1982 


rSINTEOinU.S.A. 


